A Samara official who was persecuted because of his homosexuality left Russia and spoke out against the war

Former Samara official Denis Leontovich, who had to resign after the denunciation of State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein, left Russia due to threats and spoke out against the war. The publication 7x7 drew attention to this.

23-year-old Leontovich was an employee of the Agency for the Implementation of Youth Policy of the Samara Region. He announced his departure on social networks on October 3.

“For six months now I have been forced to build my life from scratch in other countries and cities. (...) For him [the state], I am an extremist, a traitor and a criminal. Only because I was born gay. Therefore, you can organize public harassment in TG channels and in the news, deprive you of your job, threaten them with inspections and prison,” the former official wrote.

According to Leontovich, he “does not promote anything, because it is impossible to impose sexual orientation on anyone.” He also accused Vladimir Putin of starting a war with Ukraine, and the Russian army of killing civilians.

In April, State Duma deputy from the Samara region, United Russia member Alexander Khinshtein published photographs of what he claims to be Denis Leontovich’s “gay wedding.” After this, Leontovich quit his job.

In the spring of 2024, Khinshtein organized a whole campaign of outing Samara officials. He published personal photographs of what he claimed was Leontovych's "gay wedding". The deputy accused the official of “propaganda of same-sex love.” Khinshtein also stated that the Minister of Youth Policy of the Samara Region, Sergei Burtsev, is in a homosexual relationship. After this, the official resigned. In addition, Khinshtein published a photo from the Telegram channel of the Vice-Speaker of the Samara Provincial Duma, Alexander Zhivaikin, which, in his opinion, depicted an official’s finger with a pink-painted nail.