Gay russian soldiers
The gay Ukrainians 'hunted' by Russian soldiers and the allies helping them escape
Content warning: This article contains references to sexual assault and suicide.
It was 13 May when Ukrainians Svitlana and Kateryna* said three armed Russian soldiers burst into the small abandoned house where they had been living.
“One of them definitely had a gun,” Svitlana said.
“They saw our disassembled bed, on which we hibernate, and one of the soldiers asked us, ‘What are you, those 'pinks'?”
The lesbian couple had moved from the Ukrainian city of Kherson to the outskirts of the town of Oleshki after Russia's invasion in February last year, but state they couldn't evade the war.
“We were raped, me and my girlfriend, using physical force,” Svitlana said, her words published in a reportby Ukraine's LGBT Human Rights Nash Svit Centre in November.
“After the abuse, the attackers turned over everything looking for money and jewellery. We had nothing and they left.”
The abandoned international airport in the Ukranian city of Kherson in February 2023. Source: Getty
Russian Soldiers Face Male lover Tattoo Check
The Defense Ministry is recommending that brand-new recruits' bodies, especially their sexual organs and buttocks, be examined for tattoos indicating homosexual orientation.
The recruits would also be asked to describe their sexual history, whether they have a girlfriend and whether it is important for her to be faithful, according to a list of Defense Ministry recommendations for determining mental health.
The questioning would also broach subjects of theft, suicide and alcohol violence, the Izvestia newspaper reported Thursday, citing a copy of the document, published late last year.
Tattoos indicating homosexuality are uncommon among Russian gays, Igor Kochetkov, a exemplary of the LGBT community, told The Moscow Times.
But the Russian prison system has a long history of such tattoos. Most of the markings, however, are applied by force.
"This is a shape of 'lowering,' basically degrading an inmate, forcing him to become a passive homosexual who could be raped," said Damon Murray, co-editor of the "Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedia Volumes I-III."
"The most common image for this would be a woman
LGBT troops on Ukraine's front line fight homophobia at home
BBC News, reporting from Kyiv
One corner of Kyiv’s symbolic main square is now carpeted in thousands of tiny blue and yellow flags, in tribute to Ukraine’s fallen soldiers. Earlier this month, a group of activists gathered to add a unlike type of flag to the ever-growing collection. They had unicorns in their centre, to stand for each gay soldier that had been killed in the war.
The deaths of LGBT soldiers in Ukraine have exposed an inequality. They do not have the same rights as heterosexual troops. Gay marriage is illegal, sense when these soldiers are killed, their partners do not include the right to decide what happens to their bodies, nor are they entitled to articulate support.
A 30-year-old costume designer, Rodion, had come to plant a flag in honour of his former boyfriend Roman, who was killed in the early months of the invasion, the night before his 22nd birthday.
Roman and five others from his brigade died in a missile attack near Kupiansk, close to Kharkiv, after a local family leaked their position to the Russians.
“All this death, all this blood, it
SF man helps LGBTQ+ Ukrainians who've reportedly become targets of Russian aggression during war
SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco resident Leo Volobrynskyy is making a lot of calls to Ukraine lately. He is worried about the war and its impact on the LGBTQ+ community.
"I talk to my friends, gay, woman loving woman, family members almost every day. Early morning. Behind night," said Volobrynskyy.
His principal concern is word that Russian troops are targeting LGBTQ+ Ukrainians.
"I've heard from some friends that some people have already disappeared - and to this day we don't understand what happened to them," said Volobrynskyy.
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Leo's lived in San Francisco for 20 years, managing the horror of what's happening in his homeland, by helping.
"The only salvation is to do something and all of us, including myself, started jumping and saying what can I do," said Volobrynskyy.
He's been focusing on raising funds by generating interest in his own distinct way.
"What I do is, I put on the Ukrainian Nation outfit every weekend and go to every fundraiser I can get my hands on,