Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper, citing two unidentified sources, has reported that security forces in Chechnya summarily executed 27 people on the night of January 26.

The paper reported on July 9 that the purported victims were detained in regions across the North Caucasus republic during a series of raids that began in mid-December 2016.

According to the report, the detainees were never formally arrested and no paperwork was filled out on them before they were summarily executed.

A source within the Interior Ministry reportedly provided the newspaper with the names of the victims and the journalists were unable to locate any of them.

"All attempts to learn anything about these people were met with incredible fear from everyone we questioned," the newspaper wrote.

In April, Novaya Gazeta reported that dozens of homosexual men had been rounded up, imprisoned, and abused in Chechnya.

Security forces controlled by Kremlin-installed Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov have been accused of gross human-rights abuses for many years, including abductions, torture, and killings.

