Authorities in Russia have been forcing gay Chechen men to fight in Ukraine by blackmailing them into “volunteering†for military service, a human rights group has claimed.Â
SK SOS, a crisis group established in 2021 to provide assistance to LGBTQ+ people in mortal danger in the North Caucasus region of Russia, has said it is aware of at least seven cases where authorities in Russia have forced imprisoned gay men to fight in Ukraine.
The group, which claims the men are blackmailed into “volunteering†to fight, reported that one of the seven has already been killed in the war.Â
On 4 September, SK SOS referenced data that indicated that Chechen security forces had begun to force gay men to Ukraine, even ahead of the Russian government’s announced “partial mobilisation†of military reservists.
Gay men reportedly told to pay an unaffordable ransom or volunteer for war
Russia declared a partial mobilisation in September 2022, seven months into its invasion of Ukraine. The group noted that in early September seven men were detained in Chechen on suspicion of being gay.Â
After being imprisoned, the men were allegedly threatened with fabricated criminal charges. They were then given the choice of paying a ransom, that amounted to 1.5 million rubles (more than €14,000) or volunteering for the war in Ukraine.Â
The group note that an “increasing wave of detentions†of gay men in Chechnya took place in August this year. Security forces in the region are reportedly using gay dating apps to entrap men.Â
At the start of this year, NC SOS and global LGBTQ+ advocacy group All Out launched a campaign calling on Armenian authorities to stop the extradition of Salman Mukaev to Russia and save his life.
In 2020, Mukaev fled Chechnya to Armenia after he was jailed, beaten and electrocuted by police who accused him of being gay.
In 2017 reports emerged of a violent ‘gay purge’ in Chechnya being carried out by authorities. The anti-LGBTQ+ crackdown saw dozens of men abducted, tortured and killed for their real or perceived sexual orientation.
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