‘Gay purge’ responders in Russia attacked and receiving death threats, activists claim

Men reportedly barged into apartment of woman volunteer before threatening to kill her

Russian LGBT Network head Igor Kochetkov (above) says attackers likely linked to Chechen authorities (AFP/Getty)

Activists coordinating the emergency evacuation of Chechnya of at-risk LGBT+ people claim there has been a disturbing attack at the home of one of their members in St Petersburg.

Seven men reportedly barged into the apartment of a woman volunteer before threatening to kill her. Initially, the men presented themselves as police officers. Later, they said they had come to “avenge” the family of a lesbian woman who had fled Chechnya, and to “find and kill” David Isteev, the coordinator of the emergency evacuation programme.

The alleged attack, which reportedly took place on 17 May, raises serious questions about the safety of LGBT+ people and frontline responders working in the Russian North Caucasus. Since 2017, local authorities have been implicated in at least three deaths and the torture of dozens of others. Several activists have received death threats. None of these potential crimes have been investigated effectively.

Igor Kochetkov, head of the Russian LGBT Network, told The Independent that the precise targeting suggested, at the very least, the men had close links to authorities. “It seems likely the girl’s relatives turned to Chechen law enforcement for help tracking her down,” he said. “The Chechen police may be at the forefront of attacks on gay people but they also have ways of accessing central databases.”

Homosexuality was officially decriminalised in Russia in 1993, following the break-up of the Soviet Union. But the change was hardly noticed in the largely Muslim territories of the North Caucasus. In spring 2017, obvious hostility gave way to what appeared to be a government-sponsored anti-gay purge. In December, a report by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe pointed the finger at Chechen authorities, accusing them of a “systematic and gross violation of human rights”.

The region’s leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, who has been given free rein as part of a security deal struck with the Kremlin, has denied knowledge of any clampdown. But in a menacing interview given soon after the first reports of torture emerged, he insisted there were “no gays” in Chechnya. And, even if there were, he added, they should be removed – “far away from us … to purify our blood”.

Mr Kochetkov, who has headed the front line response since the first reports, said Chechen authorities are actively blocking efforts to evacuate at-risk populations. In particular, police have begun illegally confiscating passports from suspected LGBT+ people, making travel outside of the republic near impossible, he said. “There are various situations and we always look for the safest way out,” he said. “But without documents, a complicated situation becomes even more complicated.”

The response of central Russian authorities is not much better, the activist stressed. Despite international outcry, there has been no effective investigation of complaints. Indeed, the Kremlin denies the very possibility of an anti-gay purge. That approach makes attacks a “foregone conclusion”, said Tanya Lokshina, lead Russian researcher for Human Rights Watch.

“Unless Russian authorities put an end to this intolerable impunity, new attacks seem inevitable,” Ms Lokshina told The Independent. “Impunity emboldens perpetrators, so the raid of the apartment of one of the LGBT Networks volunteers could hardly be considered surprising, albeit very disturbing.”

Mr Kochetkov, who earlier this year was also the target of a death threat on YouTube, brushed aside by police, says LGBT+ activists are routinely subjected to harassment and intimidation because of their Chechnya work. “We recognise the risks and always take certain necessary precautions,” he said. “But every one of us is human and I’d be lying if I said the dangers didn’t concern me.”