Two men secretly filmed themselves walking hand-in-hand through Moscow, only to be attacked twice and shouted at by vile homophobes.

The video, taken as part of a social experiment, shows the men walking past iconic landmarks together in the Russian capital.

The pair say at the start of the video that, after witnessing attacks on gay people, they 'decided to check how many people ... will react to a gay couple,' 9 News reported.

Using cameras hidden in backpacks, friends of the men filmed how Russians responded to men holding hands.

While some onlookers ogle, others leer and throw abuse at them as they walk through places such as Red Square, where they are called 'f****ts' by strangers.

One homophobe barges into the men, bashing past them before shouting: 'Come over here you gay.'

Others call the men 'b***hes' for holding hands, while another says: 'Hey gays, there are too many of you nowadays.'

Their worst encounter they face comes on a packed street, where a stocky man pushes through the couple, stopping them from holding hands.

But breaking them up is not enough for the thug, who then continues to intimidate the men and looks ready to throw a punch.

Eventually he is persuaded to back down, but the incident highlights the huge problems homosexuals face in Russia. 

Reaction to the video, which has been watched on YouTube more than 750,000 times, is largely supportive of the 'couple'.

One user said: 'I knew Russia was pathetic and backwards, but DAMN, didn't know the amount of weak and pathetic morons were that high. Jesus Christ, feel sorry for the upstanding, intelligent Russians out there.'

Dale Shahan commented: 'It's no wonder Russia is the laughing stock of the world.'

Russia has been criticised for not doing enough to tackle homophobia, with concerns raised about its suitability to host the World Cup in 2018.

(dailymail.co.uk)