Helping those who fight for life and freedom

We help LGBTIQ+ people and their families who are facing mortal danger in the North Caucasus, Russia

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What has been done

people were provided with help: 833
were assisted in leaving the region: 390
granted asylum: 359

This statistics does not include family members of applicants as well as people suspected in being a part of LGBTIQ+ community.

NC SOS Crisis Group

Who we are?

We are human rights activists project that helps LGBTIQ+ people and their families who are pursued and harassed in the North Caucasus.

Details

How to apply for help?

If you or anyone in your surrounding faces violence connected with one’s gender or sexual identity, or if you want to report on violation of human rights in the North Caucasus, feel free to contact us.

Seek help

Feed

September 11, 2025

“Let’s Just Settle This Quietly.” The Story of Zaur, Who Was Forced to Inform on Gay Men in North Ossetia — But Refused

Zaur is almost 30, openly gay, and has lived his whole life in Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia–Alania (a…

November 19, 2024

“She Knew They Would Start Looking for Her.” A Friend of a Missing Chechen Seda Suleimanova on Friendship, ‘Honor Killings’, and Runaway Women from the North Caucasus

In August, a year had passed since Seda Suleimanova’s disappearance—a Chechen young woman who fled from her family only to…

Father from ISIS, jinn exorcism, and escape from Russia. The story of Sara Bibulatova

Sara Bibulatova was born in Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, but her passport indicates Grozny as her birthplace. The date of…

February 7, 2024

A 26-year-old Chechen woman might have become a victim of an ‘honour killing’

Seda Suleymanova, a 26-year-old native of Chechnya, may have been killed by her family, as reported to the NC SOS…

January 18, 2024

A Chechen gay man escapes Russia after being detained and missing for three months

Rizvan Dadaev from Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, was detained by the police in July of 2022 due to his…

From Taxi Drivers to Mercenaries: How Chechen Authorities Conscript Citizens for Ukraine’s War

The war in Ukraine has a unique impact on the closest region in Russia. Chechnya, a republic in the North…

Inhuman operations still being carried out in Russia: what do we know about so-called «female circumcision»?

In Russia, the problem of violence against women is much more serious than in many European countries: every fifth woman…

February 22, 2023

Dutch foreign minister speaks out on Arsamikov’s arrest

Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra commented on the arrest of Idris Arsamikov on Twitter. «I am deeply worried about the…

Wards

Maxim was the first person to speak openly about the anti-gay purge in Chechnya. It was through Maxim’s testimony that the world learned about the critical situation regarding the rights…

Seda Suleimanova

Seda was facing the prospect of a forced marriage, just like her sisters. Refusing to accept this imposed fate led to conflict within her family. Her mother constantly monitored her…

Rizvan, a resident of Chechnya, first encountered police discrimination due to his sexual identity in the spring of 2017. This was when the systematic persecution of gay men began in…

Vika (name changed for security reasons) lived in the village of Kirovaul in Dagestan, a republic in Russia located in the North Caucasus. After her seventh grade, her relatives forced…

Sara Bibulatova

Sara was born in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, but her passport lists Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, as her place of birth. Her father fled Russia due to being…

Marina Yandieva

Marina Yandieva, from Ingushetia—a republic in the North Caucasus region of Russia—attempted to escape from her home twice. In 2011, she began studying at a university in Moscow, but in…

At the end of 2022, Eva (name changed for safety reasons), a Chechen woman, faced severe backlash after her 14-year-old daughter, Alina, had an argument with a schoolmate. When the…

Idris Arsamikov

Idris was detained in Chechnya in 2017 on suspicion of being gay. The police tortured him to force a confession. He was later released but warned that they would come…

Hadijat Hizrieva, Patimat Hizrieva, Aminat Gazimagomedova and Patimat Magomedova from Dagestan were regularly abused — physically and psychologically by their relatives. As children they underwent “female circumcision” surgery. In spring…

Salekh and Ismail

Siblings Salekh Magamadov and Ismail Isaev were detained in 2020 and held for three months at the Second Regiment of Akhmat-Haji Kadyrov, a military unit in Chechnya loyal to Ramzan…

Magomed Askhabov

Magomed faced sexual violence, blackmail, and extortion in Dagestan, one of the republics in the Russian North Caucasus, due to his queer identity. He relocated to St. Petersburg, but in…

Elina Ukhmanova

Elina was forcibly confined in a rehabilitation center in Dagestan, a republic in the North Caucasus region of Russia, which her parents sent her to in an attempt to "cure"…

In 2020, Salman was detained by Chechen security forces on false suspicions of homosexuality. While in custody, he endured brutal torture: he was beaten, bound with tape, suffocated with a…

Aminat Lorsanova

Aminat's Chechen family attempted to "cure" her of bisexuality and atheism through "exorcisms of jinn" and even subjected her to electric shock torture. She tried to escape from home four…

Ibragim Selimkhanov

Ibragim fled Chechnya to escape his family, who had threatened to kill him because of his homosexuality. In the spring of 2021, Chechen security forces kidnapped him in Moscow and…

Amin Dzhabrailov

Amin Dzhabrailov, a resident of Grozny, became the first ethnic Chechen to publicly speak out about the torture and persecution of gay men in Chechnya. Prior to him, only Maxim…