Human rights activists record Russian crimes against LGBTQ community in Kherson Oblast

Members of the LGBTQ community were imprisoned, tortured and sexually abused by the Russian military during the Russian occupation of Kherson's right bank.

A report released by the NGO Projector found that people were tortured on the grounds of their sexual orientation and gender identity.

From March to September 2023, the project's lawyers interviewed 107 LGBTQ people who were victims of or witnesses to Russian crimes. The report itself describes eight cases.

"According to numerous testimonies and firsthand experiences of people who left the occupied territories at that time, Russian soldiers deliberately searched for people belonging to the LGBTQ community. For example, there is evidence that Russian soldiers forced men to undress and checked smartphones for same-sex dating apps," the report says.

Russians held a man named Oleksii captive for 64 days. He was detained after gay-themed photos were discovered during a phone check at a checkpoint. Oleksii was bundled into a van and beaten. When he arrived at the detention centre, a red dress was brought to his cell and he was forced to wear it during interrogations.

Russian soldiers discovered an LGBTQ flag at the home of Diana, who is a lesbian. When they discovered her sexual orientation, they hit her in the face with a rifle butt, put a bag over her head and led her away. Due to physical abuse and threats, Diana allegedly agreed to supply information on her LGBTQ friends. On another occasion, she witnessed the execution of people held in the detention centre: only four out of 15 survived.

Nikita, 32, a gay man, was detained by the Russian authorities for photographing the movement of Russian vehicles and equipment. He was subjected to mock drowning, electrocuted, and beaten. Nikita lost 20 kg during his week in captivity.

According to human rights activists, the victims of these crimes did not go to the police due to their distrust of the system. As a result, when the study began, the Office of the Prosecutor General had no records of war crimes against LGBTQ people in the occupied territories.

According to other sources, the Russians also raped gay men. One of the victims, whose case is well known to human rights activists, killed himself.

"The testimonies indicate that LGBTQ human rights were violated during the Russian occupation, some of which could be classified as war crimes or crimes against humanity."

After interviewing two individuals, lawyers from the Projector NGO assisted in drafting statements of a criminal offence for the Ukrainian prosecutor's office, and in one of those cases, the indictment was transferred to the national court, the report said.

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