​​Human rights organisation accuses Chechen Akhmat fighters of using mobilised queer men as sex slaves

​​Human rights organisation accuses Chechen Akhmat fighters of using mobilised queer men as sex slaves

0:00

/5:04

1×

Human rights activists have reported that Chechnya’s Akhmat unit has been using queer men mobilised to fight in Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine as sex slaves. At least one of those who contacted the group directly from the front lines  later died.

David Isteev, director of the human rights group NC SOS Crisis, told Dozhd TV about the incident during an exposé about the Chechen unit Akhmat. According to Isteev, mobilisation in Chechnya has become a form of torture, which includes the detention by security forces of those suspected of being queer.

Isteev added that once queer men are sent to the front, they are held in sexual slavery. While it may be possible that other units also hold mobilised queer men in sexual slavery, Isteev said he was only aware of Chechen Akhmat fighters engaging in the practice.

‘58% of appeals from May to September are related to harassment by law enforcement officers. Ransoms have increased significantly […] In Grozny in particular […] people who were detained for [their] homosexual orientation […] were given a choice between a fabricated criminal case or being sent to war [in Ukraine]’, Isteev claimed.

There has been a long-standing practice in Chechnya, dating back before the full-scale war in Ukraine, where police officers detain residents for minor crimes and misdemeanors as a means of extracting ransom in exchange for avoiding criminal prosecution.

According to Isteev, before the war, the approximate cost of ransom for a detainee was around ₽300–₽500,000 ($3,000–$5,000). After the war, the sums more than doubled.

‘There were at least two cases when people were detained en masse, 10–13 people at a time. A military officer came to them and offered to sign an agreement that they would voluntarily go to the front. If they refused, they were threatened with a criminal case. Out of each of these detentions, it turns out that three people agreed to this. Two of them had no opportunity to pay off at all, and the sums there reach ₽1,000,000 ($10,000)’, Isteev told OC Media.

Isteev explained the increase in ransom payments as a ‘new business’ opportunity that allows law enforcement officers to earn more money.

Human rights activists have managed to verify the identities of seven gay men who were sent to fight in Russia’s full-scale in Ukraine against their will. At least one of them has already died. Beyond being held in sexual slavery, Isteev said that queer men in the units are under constant control.

‘They work for the battalion [as servants], as their sexual orientation is also reported on the spot upon [their] arrival’, Isteev said. He added that human rights activists began investigating the practice after an unnamed man from Chechnya contacted NC SOS Crisis and reported that he was being held as a sex slave.

‘When he called, his voice was shaking, and he said that he was being abused, raped, that he did not know what to do and wanted to die. These people are very afraid to turn to human rights defenders because they don’t trust anyone. They are always afraid that information [about their sexual orientation or contact with activists] may be leaked’, Isteev said.

According to Isteev, the individual who confirmed that he was subjected to sexualised slavery was deployed to the Akhmat unit.

‘At the same time, he is not considered a combat [soldier] by Akhmat fighters. He performs the function of “fetch – serve” there, and they use him as a sexual concubine’, Isteev told OC Media.

For many years, the Russian army has operated with a notorious practice of hazing known as ‘dedovshchina’, in which new recruits must obey any orders, including absurd or degrading commands, from more senior soldiers. Often it means menial tasks such as washing floors and toilets, but can include other forms of servitude that does not preclude forced sexual ‘favours’.

‘Like everything that happens with gays in the Chechen Republic, it does not correlate with Islam in any way. This is not the only situation where police officers in Chechnya display this sexualised violence. When a person is detained and held in police cellars, it is quite common. More often a detainee is raped with an ordinary truncheon. Or [in Chechnya] we had a situation where a man was raped with a stick wrapped with barbed wire’, Isteev told OC Media.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Chechen Akhmat unit has gained notoriety for reportedly focusing more on filming themselves than actually performing combat duties, earning the online moniker of TikTok soldiers.

According to military experts and eyewitnesses, Chechen soldiers often remain on Ukrainian territory already captured by Russia, where they take videos purporting to show ‘combat’, but in reality are of soldiers shooting at already destroyed houses and performing fake rescue missions.

The Akhmat unit is also known for its involvement in a number of notable conflicts, which have been reported on by both Russian state media and pro-war propagandists.

Chechen unit accused of blowing up Belgorod apartment block

Chechen military fighters reportedly detonated ammunition in a house by accident, causing the incident.

OC MediaElizaveta Chukharova