A young gay Russian man has been brutally murdered by two friends in the Russian city of Volgograd after he reportedly came out to them while they were drinking together.

The unnamed 23-year-old was found dead in the courtyard of an apartment building in the city on Friday morning after Russians had been celebrating Victory Day which commemorates the capitulation of German forces in World War II.

The young man’s genitals had been mutilated and reports say he appears to have been tortured sexually during the killing. Police had difficulty identifying the victim due to the extent of his injuries.

Police later arrested a 22-year-old-man and a 27-year-old man – one of whom confessed, saying the victim had been killed because he was gay and for ‘provocative behavior’.

The GAY.RU website is reporting that similar murders of other gay men occurred in Volgograd in 2008 and 2012.

Volgograd Oblast has not passed a ban on so-called ‘homosexual propaganda’ but ten other regions in the country have done so and there were plans for a similar national law as recently as January.

LGBT people in Russia have no anti-discrimination protections, may not adopt and have no formal recognition of their relationships.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is moving to ban overseas same-sex couples from adopting Russian children.