A quick search recently for LGBT news on Yandex – the largest Russian search engine – threw up a very depressing list: “Users are outraged by the new LGBT-friendly ad for iPhone”, “Russian actor gets kicked out after supporting LGBT people”, “Berlinale-2018: perverts and russophobes are occupying modern cinema”.

A whole stack of news is dedicated to a new online game called “Play for the President: help Putin kill naked men with a rainbow flag”. The game allows you to become “a former KGB agent” and destroy “enemies of the state”, which “naturally” includes the LGBT community, opposition leader Navalny and US President Donald Trump. It reminds me of another recent game published by a popular Russian news site Lenta.ru, where readers were asked to like photos of celebrities who were “lucky enough” to be “raped and made famous” by Harvey Weinstein.

LGBT+ rights around the globe Show all 9 1 /9 LGBT+ rights around the globe LGBT+ rights around the globe Russia Russia’s antipathy towards homosexuality has been well established following the efforts of human rights campaigners. However, while it is legal to be homosexual, LGBT couples are offered no protections from discrimination. They are also actively discriminated against by a 2013 law criminalising LGBT “propaganda” allowing the arrest of numerous Russian LGBT activists. AFP/Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Brunei Brunei recently introduced a law to make sodomy punishable by stoning to death. It was already illegal and punishable by up to 10 years in prison AFP/Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Mauritania Men who are found having sex with other men face stoning, while lesbians can be imprisoned, under Sharia law. However, the state has reportedly not executed anyone for this ‘crime’ since 1987 Alamy LGBT+ rights around the globe Sudan Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is illegal under Sudanese law. Men can be executed on their third offence, women on their fourth Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Saudi Arabia Homosexuality and gender realignment is illegal and punishable by death, imprisonment, whipping and chemical castration Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Yemen The official position within the country is that there are no gays. LGBT inviduals, if discovered by the government, are likely to face intense pressure. Punishments range from flogging to the death penalty Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Nigeria Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is illegal and in some northern states punishable with death by stoning. This is not a policy enacted across the entire country, although there is a prevalent anti-LGBT agenda pushed by the government. In 2007 a Pew survey established that 97% of the population felt that homosexuality should not be accepted. It is punishable by 14 years in prison Reuters LGBT+ rights around the globe Somalia Homosexuality was established as a crime in 1888 and under new Somali Penal Code established in 1973 homosexual sex can be punishable by three years in prison. A person can be put to death for being a homosexual Reuters LGBT+ rights around the globe Iraq Although same-sex relationships have been decriminalised, much of the population still suffer from intense discrimination. Additionally, in some of the country over-run by the extremist organisation Isis, LGBT individuals can face death by stoning Getty

In other countries such online games might have caused a big backlash from the public and commercial partners, but in Russia for many they seem to serve as yet another reinforcement of a very conservative and disempowering belief system. A system in which women are given flowers but also beaten by their husbands, and where it’s widely believed that the immoral influence of the LGBT community should be immediately mitigated for the sake of the children.

Meanwhile, Russia is heading for presidential elections beginning 18 March. Even though on the surface it may seem that LGBT issues are not on the agenda of any of the candidates, including Putin, if you look closer it feels like their stance on LGBT rights remains central to the stability of the Russian government.

Evidence to this is an allegedly state funded election video, which went live three weeks ago, urging Russians to go out and vote. In the video, viewers are shown an alternative reality in which the newly elected government openly supports LGBT rights and lets black people serve in its forces. The video intends to scare voters who are doubting whether to vote for the current political setup and might support more liberal thinking candidates.

Russia opposition leader Alexei Navalny detained by police at anti-Putin protest

Ksenia Sobchak, the only oppositional candidate to openly support LGBT rights in Russia, called the video homophobic: “To turn LGBT people into a threat in a homophobic country is not a joke. It once again fuels discrimination of the minority”. The reality of such propaganda is indeed horrific.

Last week Amnesty International reported that 106 people who survived the horrific mass persecution of gay men in Chechnya in March-May 2017 were able to escape Russia. But many more of the hundreds suffered and those who are still being threatened remain in hiding or continue to live in their hometowns. Many have protested against the Chechnyan authorities – but to date no visible developments have been made.

Apart from the government’s reluctance to investigate these crimes, another difficulty is that only one person agreed to identify himself and come forward in the Russian investigation. It is not surprising since, as the journalists of Novaya Gazeta uncovered, the Chechen government was not the only one persecuting its LGBT people, but also, tragically, “ashamed” families of those men and women who were outed.

Those 106 victims, who managed to escape Russia, now have a chance to testify but only if the case goes to the European Court of Human Rights.

Any propaganda goes way beyond just words and has a very dark side. And in Russia’s attempt to contain the LGBT community, it seems, all the means possible serve the purpose. As the events of the past year in Chechnya have shown, mass abduction, torture and even murder of gay men and women is also an option for some.