Two young men have been kidnapped from safe housing in Russia after fleeing Chechnya due to anti-LGBTQ+ hostility.
According to ABC News, the Russian LGBT Network helped the Salekh Magamadov, 20, and Ismail Isteyev, 17, escape the Chechen region after they were detained and tortured for suspected homosexuality.
The pair were resettled in an apartment in Nizhny Novgorod, but on January 4, one made a call to the charity asking for help before disappearing.
LGBT Network representative, David Isteyev, said the two men were seized by local police and then handed over to Chechen security forces who are returning them to the region. Alexander Nemov, the lawyer for the two men, has flown to Chechnya to locate them.