Chechnya has reportedly launched another 'gay purge'

Chechnya is launching another anti-LGBT attack against at citizens, and at least two people have died so far, activist groups say.

More than 100 gay men were arrested, tortured, and killed during what activists called a "wave of persecution" in 2017. Now, it appears that wave has returned to the south Russian republic, and at least 40 people are detained because of it, the Russian LGBT Network tells The Guardian.

The crackdown began in December with the detention of an administrator for an LGBT social network VKontakte, the activist group tells The Guardian. Police apparently used the administrator's phone to track down more LGBT people. Dozens of women and men have since been detained, and two were tortured to death by police, the Russian LGBT Network says.

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Shortly after the "anti-gay crackdown" began, a message on VKontakte warned LGBT residents to leave Chechnya "as soon as possible," per The Daily Beast. The ongoing "purge" is now starting to look like the 2017 situation, with detainees potentially being held at "the same facility that was named in the 2017 reports," The Associated Press says.

A spokesman for Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov called these reports "complete lies." Kadyrov has been repeatedly accused of human rights abuses against "dissidents" in the past, per AP. Read stories from victims of the 2017 crackdown at The Associated Press.