MOSCOW (AP) — Two men have been able to register their marriage in Russia, a first for the country that the Interior Ministry attributes to a bureaucratic error.

Russia doesn't recognize same-sex marriage and has a law banning the dissemination of gay "propaganda" to minors, so Pavel Stotzko and Yevgeny Voitsekhovsky's claim that their marriage was officially registered has caused an uproar.

The couple says they got married in Denmark and submitted their passports to a registrar's office, where a clerk docilely put marriage stamps on the travel documents last week.

The Interior Ministry says the passports will be withdrawn and the clerk who stamped them fired.

Russian LGBT Network, a gay rights group, said Monday that the newlyweds have left Russia, fearing for their security amid official pressure.