According to the Washington Post, a costume party in Moscow that featured half-naked celebrities sparked a wave of hostility among Russian politicians and activists seeking to curry favor with President Vladimir Putin.
The controversial event was hosted at Mutabor nightclub this week by popular Russian influencer Anastasia Ivleeva, who charged around $11,000 for a ticket, the report said.
According to social media posts, the guests included pop stars and models as well as Ksenia Sobchak, a TV personality, influencer and Putin critic.
The theme of the event was “naked illusion”. Ivleyev wore a $250,000 diamond body chain, while other guests wore nude fishnet and lingerie. Russian rapper Vacio wore only one sock, The Post reported.
Russian officials and Orthodox activists have since called for legal consequences for the event's organizers and participants, highlighting Russia's conservative turn under Putin's leadership.
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Television propagandists and political activists said the lavish event was “tone deaf” as Russia's war with Ukraine nears its third year and estimated Russian casualties climb to over 300,000, the outlet reported.
Critics of the party also focused on what they described as public expressions of non-heterosexual orientation and relationships at the event, according to The Post.
According to the Moscow Times, police raided the party on the second day and allowed it to proceed after a brief delay. However, the guests were “much better dressed” than the day before, the report said.
Yekaterina Mizulina, head of a Kremlin-linked group that calls for tighter controls on online expression and advocates for anti-LGBT laws, called for a boycott of those attending the party.
“Such meeting places are a slap in the face to the entire policy pursued by the state,” Mizulina wrote in a Telegram post. “[The partygoers] live in a different world than the rest of the country.”
“These people should be boycotted at the state level,” she said.
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Russia calls “LGBTQ movement” “extremist”
Russia calls “LGBTQ movement” “extremist”
According to The Post, a radical Christian group called “Call of the People” filed a criminal investigation directly with the attorney general’s office into the party’s conduct, claiming “male kissing” and drug use were present at the event.
Critics of Iveleeva have called for her business opportunities to be shut down because of the party, the newspaper reported, suggesting she will face heavy fines and an investigation into her finances.
However, in a now-deleted Telegram post seen by The Post, she appeared to stand her ground.
“It was worth it and I love that after every one of my parties people write comments that it's debauchery, some kind of demonism and satanism, even though it's just people wearing beautiful costumes,” she wrote.
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Business Insider has reached out to Iveleeva for comment.
The outraged social reaction to the party strikes a different tone than that once advocated by Russian officials – including Putin himself – who spent the early days of the war trying to convince citizens that the fighting in Ukraine was having little impact on their everyday life.
In recent years, Putin has ramped up anti-LGBT rhetoric and legislation in Russia, even going so far as to ban the promotion and praise of same-sex relationships.
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