Russia unleashes a heavy bombing campaign. Cities are reduced to rubble. Thousands of civilians are killed. Russia did that twice in Chechnya in the 1990s. Is a repeat likely in Ukraine today?
The "new wave of persecution" began when a social media group administrator's phone contacts were accessed by Chechen authorities, according to the Russian LGBT Network.
The Netherlands is one of a handful of European countries giving refuge to gay Chechens, after reports emerged that Chechnya's authorities were rounding up and torturing the LGBT community.
Two gay men tell NPR they were kidnapped, beaten and interrogated in Chechnya before they were able to find refuge in Moscow. Human Rights Watch warns that Chechnya is conducting an "anti-gay purge."
Ramzan Kadyrov is an aggressive supporter of Vladimir Putin, vilifying opponents of the Russian president as traitors and "Satans" who should be eliminated. But his bluster may provoke a backlash.
A total of five individuals are being arraigned in a court in Moscow for last week's murder of Boris Nemtsov, a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin.