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The statement that’s made at the [Gay] Pride parades is that we’re not ashamed of who we are, American—Russian journalist and author Masha Gessen who is openly gay, told Hromadske.

Bellingcat has made the Russian authorities uncomfortable with the evidence they have presented and this has generated a reaction

I don't think there has been sufficient understanding in the West about what is at stake...and the threat that Putin's Russia poses to our values, said David Kramer, director for Human Rights and Human Freedom at the McCain Institute.

The Kremlin cannot forget about one goal — containment of the West in Ukraine. They have to keep Ukraine in their embraces, Lilia Shevtsova a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute told Hromadske.

There is rising religious intolerance in rebel—held East Ukraine.