Kazaky has announced their second album release scheduled for June 2013.

According to the group's management, ‘I Like It’ promises to be ‘in the genre of synth-pop and hip-hop’ and will be ‘even more danceable’ than their 2012 debut album ‘The Hills Chronicles.’

A Russian gay couple is seeking cash to make a documentary celebrating famous LGBT heroes from their country like Ivan the Terrible and Tchaikovsky.

While Ivan IV Vasilyevich was married seven times and had at least eight children, he was also attracted to young men in female attire. His reign as tsar in the 16th century saw him conquer new lands to expand Russia from a medieval state to an empire.

‘Pride. Geniuses’ also aims to tell the world about the lives and achievements of other famous LGBT Russians.

Renowned Russian LGBT rights advocate, Aleksei Kiselyov, has reportedly been granted political asylum in Spain.

Moscow based fellow gay rights advocate, Nikolai Alekseyev, reported today (26 April) that Spain granted Kiselyov asylum and a five-year permanent resident permit.

Kiselyov participated in a protest against the reelection of President Vladimir Putin on Moscow's Bolotnaya Square in May 2012 that was violently dispersed by police.

Gay Russian film fans are defying thugs and politicians to host the Side by Side LGBT Film Festival in Moscow.

The festival will screen 17 films from tomorrow (18 April) until 21 April.

Last April, when Side by Side made its debut in Moscow 1,200 people attended.

They were picketed by Orthodox Christian activists wearing t-shirts with the slogan ‘Orthodoxy or death’ and shouting ‘Perverts get out of Russia.’

Police protected the festival-goers however – and they are hoping that will continue this year.

The head of Russian Railways, Valdimir Yakunin, said that the civil rights of LGBT people should be limited to ‘public morals’ and ‘common sense’.

He further said that the extent of ‘civil rights’ for gay people should limited so that they are not beaten with sticks to death, reported the portal GayRussia.

Otherwise, the company director called for ban the freedom of expression and family rights for gays and lesbians.

President Vladimir Putin has said Russia does not discriminate against homosexuals.

The Russian president was speaking at a press conference in Amsterdam, where gay rights activists, topless feminists and other protestors critical of the lack of human rights laws in the country had greeted him.

He said: ‘In the Russian Federation – so that it is clear to everybody – there is no infringement on the rights of sexual minorities.

‘These people…enjoy all the same rights and freedoms as everyone else.’

Zenit St. Petersburg striker ‘Hulk’ Givanildo Vieira de Souza has spoken out about homophobic and racist fans of his club.

Zenit paid €40 million to bring the Brazilian champion to Russia, but three months after he was signed in September, a leading Zenit fan club published a manifesto against the club signing black or gay players.

Albania is being called the most homophobic European country with 53% of participants are against homosexuality, according to a new survey published today (26 March).

The European Social Survey (ESS), established in 2001, intends to track the changing trends of social attitudes in European countries and is conducted every two years.

In Albania, it found 95% of participants said they had not lived with a partner before marriage.

While it feels like the majority of the world has gradually more accepting of homosexuality, in Russia it is the opposite story.

Over the past eight years, the number of Russians who believe gays and lesbians should be left ‘to themselves’ has declined by 7%, while the percentage of Russians who think they should be ‘cured’ has climbed from 17% to 22%. 

The percentage of those who believe gay people should be isolated from society has increased from 12% to 16%.

Russia’s foreign minister has rejected criticism about the proposed law that would outlaw ‘homosexual propaganda’ nationwide.

Sergey Lavrov said there are no obligations to Europe or any other country to respect gay people's rights in Russia.

‘We don’t have a single international or common European commitment to allow propaganda of homosexuality,’ he said.

Russia’s children’s rights ombudsman ruled out any possibility of adoption of Russian orphans by French gay couples if France introduces gay marriage.

During an interview with the Rossiskaya Gazeta daily, the ombudsman, Pavel Astakhov said: ‘The official position on gay marriages is stated in Russian official documents, the Family Code and the constitution.

They put it straight that the marriage is a union of a man and a woman. We do not have anything else. Period’.