It is late in the evening in Samara, an industrial hub in central Russia, and the city’s one gay nightclub is not easy to find. My companion, Andrei, leads me into a dark car park opposite a row of garages. There are none of the tell-tale signs of a nightclub: no queue, no music or crowds of smokers spilling out into the street. For a moment I begin to doubt Andrei’s navigation.

We approach the solid metal door of what looks like an office building, and Andrei rings the buzzer as a security camera eyes us from above. The metal panel swings open and a wave of thumping music gushes out into the night as if trying desperately to escape. We slip inside, restoring silence to the unsuspecting street.

In recent years, Samara has been dubbed Russia’s most homophobic city. In 2012, there were seven gay clubs here. Today, the discreet venue Andrei has led me to is all that is left.

Security is tight —our bags are meticulously searched and I am asked to leave my camera at the door. Thugs and vigilante groups have attacked gay clubs even in more cosmopolitan cities like Moscow and St Petersburg. In Samara, they’re not taking any chances.