A group providing assistance to queer people in the North Caucasus has alleged that queer men are being detained by Chechen security forces and forced to fight on the frontlines in Ukraine.
In a statement on Wednesday, North Caucasus SOS Crisis Group said men suspected of being queer were being detained and threatened with being outed if they did not ‘volunteer’ to be sent to Ukraine or pay a substantial sum of money.
The group said the men were threatened that a criminal case would be fabricated against them, causing them to be sent to a pre-trial detention centre where information about their orientation would ‘become known to their cellmates’.
The group reported that they had confirmed seven such cases in which the men were unable to pay and were forced to enlist in the military, one of whom was later killed.
They reported that in 2023, one woman and four men were detained, with the men sent to war and the woman handed over to relatives.
In September 2022, before the announcement of a mobilisation in Russia, six men suspected of being queer were reportedly detained. Three of the six reportedly paid ₽1.5 million ($17,000) to secure their release, while three others were sent to Ukraine, one of whom later died.
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