The foreign ministers of five European countries asked Lavrov to protect Chechen gays from persecution

The foreign ministers of Great Britain, Sweden, the Netherlands, France and Germany sent a collective letter to their Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov asking him to influence the situation with the persecution of gays in Chechnya.

“Dear colleague, we are deeply disturbed by numerous reports from international organizations regarding the repression of homosexuals in Chechnya,” the RFI letter quoted AFP as saying. In their appeal, the diplomats call on the Russian government to “investigate these terrible allegations and guarantee the safety of the activists and journalists who are conducting the investigation,” and to use “its influence with the regional authorities of Chechnya so that the repression immediately ends, the victims receive help, and the perpetrators are brought to justice.” court."

a similar request to Lavrov made Earlier , the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, . Then he replied that there was no confirmation of information about the persecution of gays in the republic. The day before, German Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded to intervene in the situation, speaking at a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

reported on the mass detentions and murders of gays in Chechnya in early April Novaya Gazeta and Radio Liberty . The republic's prosecutor's office began inspections after the publications. The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov , claimed that there were no gays in the republic, and Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova saw “provocation” and “false denunciation” in the publications.