Russia Paper: Chechnya Killed These 27 Men in Anti-Gay Purge

A Russian newspaper has reported the names of at least 27 men that it says were executed by Chechen security forces in a single night in a suspected anti-gay purge this year. The men were reportedly rounded up in December before being killed on the night of Jan. 26 in Grozny. Novaya Gazeta, which was the first news organization to report systematic detentions and killings of gay men in the Russian republic, said as many as 56 men may have died as part of the massacre. The detained men were never formally arrested and no official paperwork was filed regarding their whereabouts; an interior ministry official was said to have provided the list of names. None were able to be tracked down by reporters. “All attempts to learn anything about these people were met with incredible fear from everyone we questioned,” the newspaper wrote.