Gay Man Murdered In Russia

A gay man in Russia's Kamchatka region has been kicked and stabbed to death by his neighbors. 

The suspects, three men in the village of Zaporozhye, allegedly killed a man on Wednesday "because their fellow villager had a non-traditional sexual orientation," the Investigative Committee said in a statement, using a euphemism for gay. "The victim died at the scene from his injuries. Then the suspects tried to cover up the crime by putting the body in his car, pouring on petrol and setting it alight," investigators said. The three men have been detained. Even though the investigators confirmed that the attack was believed to have been driven by homophobia, in a rare admission from officials on the sensitive issue in Russia, the suspects are being investigated for murder, not for a hate crime. The victim was named by the Interfax news agency as the deputy director of a local airport, citing police.

This was Russia's second hate crime murder of a gay man in one month.