Russian Murder Victim Identified

International Business Times says it has identified the young Russian gay man who was murdered last week after coming out to drinking companions.

Vladislav Tornovoi, 23, was attacked by two men in the city of Volgograd, who mutilated his genitals and raped him with a beer bottle. In an murder which has sparked outrage across Russia and overseas, the young man's face was smashed with a rock and was then set on fire. Tornovoi was allegedly killed shortly after coming out as gay to friends during a boozy Victoria Day celebration. Two men aged 22 and 27-years-old - who were reportedly Tornovoi's friends, are under arrest on suspicion of killing him.

Russian activist Nikolai Alexeyev told the Moscow Times that the murder was the inevitable result of Russia's plan to implement a national ban on "homosexual propaganda." Alexeyev: Political figures have provoked anti-gay sentiment by portraying the gay community as a bunch of freaks. They are accomplices in the killing."