An 18-year-old girl has sustained severe physical injuries after seven men brutally beat her during an alleged homophobic attack in St Petersburg, Russia. 

Ekaterina Lyskh, 18-years-old, and her girlfriend Alina were walking through the streets of St Petersburg with a group of friends on Monday, December 9. Seven men followed them and started hurling insults at Ekaterina over her appearance. Speaking to Paper, Alina said, “They began to insult us in a rude manner. Names like: ‘Are you lesbians?’.” 

On an Instagram post, Alina further detailed the attack, “Of course, seeing so many people, we decided to just leave. It so happened that we were divided and a tall guy came up to me with the phrases ‘Beauty, let’s get to know you?’.”

The group of friends fled from the seven men to a nearby cafe, where Alina tried to alert security. One friend attempted to pepper spray one of the men and was hit across the face. 

Alina further stated to Paper, “They came too close, asking what was in our pockets. We tried to move on, but the men blocked our moves. As a result, we still managed to run into some kind of coffee shop. I tried to call the guard, but did not have time.”

Ekaterina ran after the men “to find out why they are doing this,” according to Alina. She then received several blows to the face and head and later diagnosed with a concussion by medical professions. She received stitches to the side of her mouth.

The seven men fled the scene and have not been detained by the police. Following the suspected homophobic attack, Alina concluded her Instagram post by stating, “We were not even given the opportunity to call the police. Now we’ll go write a statement, […] What right does a person have to beat for being a person of a different orientation? How much longer can this go on ?! We want these b****ds to be punished and will do everything for this.”