#Andrei Kotov

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Donald Padgett at The Advocate (12.30.2024):

The director of a Russian travel agency arrested last month on charges of international LGBT extremism died yesterday while in custody in Moscow, OVD-Info reports. Andrei Kotov, 48, was found dead around 4 a.m. on Sunday at the Vodnik pretrial detention center, where he was awaiting trial on charges of supporting an international LGBT extremist terrorist movement. Leisan Mannapova, Kotov’s lawyer, confirmed her client died by suicide. His body was discovered in his cell covered in blood, and “cuts were found” on his body, an internal source told RIA Novosti.

Kotov ran Men Travel, a travel agency reportedly catering to gay men. He had recently concluded a cruise along the Volga River and was planning a trip to Egypt to ring in the New Year at the time of his arrest. Security forces arrested Kotov on Nov. 28 but it was not made public until two days later. Video of the arrest posted to multiple Telegram channels shows the muscled Kotov shirtless with his hands cuffed behind his back. Kotov testified at a court hearing earlier this month that he was beaten and threatened with a stun gun if he did not confess his alleged crimes during the arrest. “About 15 people came to me at night, they beat me, hit me in the face, on the legs, left bruises,” Kotov said at a detention hearing on Dec. 2, Zona Media reported at the time. “I did not offer any resistance. I was extremely surprised by this procedure.”

He told the court he was beaten by two masked men who demanded he confess to LGBT extremism. Kostov said one man punched him in the face while the second man threatened him with a stun gun. When he insisted the tours were not LGBT-centric, Kostov said he was escorted to the kitchen where he was told to say hello to the man’s “brothers in the regiment.”

[...]

Last month, Putin signed two new laws outlawing the promotion of non-traditional families and the adoption of Russian children by foreign nationals from countries that recognize a person’s right to gender-affirming care.

The adoption law effectively prohibits citizens of Australia, Austria, Argentina, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and other countries from adopting children from Russia or taking guardianship over them. Citizens of the U.S. were banned from adopting Russian children in 2012. The second law bans what it terms “childfree propaganda” that promotes non-traditional families as a positive environment for children. Media companies and social media sites will be required to monitor content to ensure compliance with the law. An exemption would be made for positive portrayals of a monastic life that included celibacy.

In December of 2022, Putin signed a law strengthening a ban on LGBTQ “propaganda” in Russia and making it illegal to promote same-sex sexual relations or suggest non-heterosexual attractions are “normal.” Individuals can be fined up to 400,000 rubles ($6,370) for “LGBT propaganda” and up to 200,000 rubles ($3,185) for “demonstrations of LGBT and information that encourages a change of gender among teenagers.” The fines increase to 5 million rubles ($80,000) and 4 million rubles ($64,000) respectively for legal entities. Last year, Putin directed sexologists in the country to treat homosexuality as a mental illness no different than bestiality and ordered the Ministry of Health to create an institute to study homosexuals at the Serbsky Center for Psychiatry and Narcology. [...] In November of last year, Putin requested that the Russian government officially recognize the “international public LGBT movement” as “extremist” under the law, and his request was granted that same month. Less than two days later, security forces raided at least four LGBTQ+ establishments in Moscow.

Andrei Kotov, who ran Men Travel, died in Russian prison custody earlier this week on charges that he violated Russia's arbitrary laws that baselessly paint the international LGBTQ+ movement as "extremist".

[socialjusticeinamerica]

It’s no comfort that no matter how bad we think our problems are it’s always worse someplace else.

[fritzes]

the curse of ATP Madrid 2024

remember toronto's chaos? yeah this one's crazier

(shoutout @rodlaveraryna for helping me find the toronto post when I totally lost it)

first of all, the World #1 Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the tournament, making the fairly new #2 Jannik Sinner the top seed at a Masters 1000 for the first time.

In the first round, Félix Auger-Aliassime (who, keep in mind, took Nadal to five sets at Roland Garros) loses the first set to Nishioka. However, he comes back in the second and third sets to win the match 4-6 6-1 6-4. We'll be seeing a lot of him. In a Next Gen battle, young phenomenon João Fonseca loses the first set to the clay incompetent Alex Michelsen but proceeds to bagel him in the second set and then win the third with 4-6 6-0 6-2. Fabian Marozsan (of beating Alcaraz in Rome fame) saves eleven set points against Karatsev to win the first set and goes on to win the match 7-6 7-6. Moutet and Shang play an almost four hour match in which Moutet caused a massive delay by demanding the umpire give him coffee. And, most insane of all, teenager Darwin Blanch is drawn against Rafael Nadal for his second tour match ever. The scoreline is 6-1 6-0 (at least he got a game!)

Second round - here come the seeds. Jakub Menšík, yet another Next Gen wonder, upsets Dimitrov in three intense sets 6-2 6-7 6-3. Félix bagels known clay flop Mannarino. Fonseca loses quite brutally to Norrie. The ultimate clay hater himself, Daniil Medvedev, loses the first set to Matteo Arnaldi and looks absolutely done but comes back to win 2-6 6-4 6-4. Another known clay hater, Alexander Bublik, jokes his way through a win against Carballés Baena, who was so frustrated that he hit a serve directly at Bublik. Ben Shelton bagels Machac. Rafa manages to beat de Minaur, who he just lost to in Barcelona. Stefanos Tsitsipas, fresh off of two clay finals, is beaten by qualifier Monteiro 6-4 6-4.

In the third round, our top seed Jannik Sinner starts to show sign of discomfort, and his opponent Kotov is serving for the second set after Jannik won the first. Kotov has set point... and hits a questionable underarm serve that Jannik crushes down the line. Jannik goes on to break back and win the match 6-2 7-5. In the beginning of a long line of strange occurrences, Félix's opponent Menšik retires in the second set. Daniil loses the first set to Korda, yells at everyone, accuses the umpire of working for the Illuminati, but comes back to win the match 5-7 7-6 6-3. Bublik, the other resident clay hater, beats Ben Shelton 3-6 7-6 6-4, stetting up a match against who but Daniil. Holger Rune, who made two clay masters finals, loses to Griekspoor 6-4 4-6 6-3.

We start off the fourth round with another shaky Jannik match where he barely gets past Khachanov 5-7 6-3 6-3. At the exact same time - I kid you not, the exact same time - is a rematch of last year’s final. Carlos Alcaraz has match points over Struff at the very same minute as Jannik, but loses all three of them and extends the match another half hour or so, eventually winning it 6-3 6-7 7-6. Daniil comfortably wins the clay hater battle 7-6 6-4, and Bublik seems perfectly fine with it. In a strange occurrence of two varying levels of servebots on clay, Taylor Fritz beats Hurkacz 7-6 6-4 (including a very predictable tiebreak). Perhaps the strangest of all, Félix takes out Casper Ruud, the man who would marry clay if he could, 6-4 7-5.

And now to the quarterfinals. Think these matches have predictable outcomes? Wrong! Only Taylor manages to emerge as the favorite who wins, beating Cerundolo 6-1 3-6 6-3, an American servebot into clay masters semis. Meanwhile, Jannik withdraws entirely, giving Félix yet another walkover. In what may be the calmest match of his career, Andrey Rublev beats Carlos 4-6 6-3 6-2, ending his Madrid title streak. And, Daniil retires against Jiri Lehecka.

So, the semifinals no one expected. Andrey dispatches Fritz 6-4 6-3 after they traded breaks in the opening two games. And Félix receives yet another walkover when Lehecka retires a few games into the match. Yes, he received not one, not two, but three walkovers en route to the final.

In the end, though, Andrey wins it and claims a second masters title. So, that’s the end of the story, right? No, because in his interviews afterwards, Andrey reveals that he has been extremely sick for the entirety of the tournament and that he could barely sleep or eat. A bizarre yet fitting end to this strange tournament.

[beardedmrbean]

A Russian man arrested for allegedly running a travel agency for gay customers was found dead in custody in Moscow, rights group OVD-Info reported Sunday, amid a crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights in Russia.

According to OVD-Info, which tracks political arrests, Andrei Kotov — director of the “Men Travel” agency — faced charges of “organizing extremist activity and participating in it.”

OVD-Info said an investigator told Kotov’s lawyer that her client had died by suicide early Sunday while in pretrial detention and was found dead in his cell.

Prior to Kotov’s death, independent media outlet Mediazona reported earlier this month that Kotov had rejected the charges and said in court that law enforcement officers beat him and administered electric shocks during the arrest, even though he didn’t resist.

Just over a year ago, Russia’s Supreme Court effectively outlawed any LGBTQ+ activism in a ruling that designated “the international LGBT movement” as extremist. The move exposed anyone in the community or connected to it to criminal prosecution and prison, ushering in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.

The LGBTQ+ community in Russia has been under legal and public pressure for over a decade but especially since the Kremlin sent troops to Ukraine in 2022. Russian leader Vladimir Putin has argued that the war is a proxy battle with the West, which he says aims to destroy Russia and its “traditional family values” by pushing for LGBTQ+ rights.

[mariacallous]

Andrey Kotov, a Russian businessman accused of running a travel agency catering to LGBTQ+ tourists, died in a Moscow jail days before the New Year. His arrest came amid a broader crackdown on queer people in Russia. The exact circumstances of his death, however, remain unclear. While initial reports suggested suicide, human rights advocates and friends have contested this narrative, alleging that Kotov could have been either tortured to death or deliberately killed by the authorities. Here’s what we know so far about the events surrounding Kotov’s death.

[bdsmchan]

Moscow is so beautiful today.

A few days ago, Andrey Kotov died in jail. He had been imprisoned for organizing tourist trips for queer people. He was tortured, as they tried to extract anything from him that could be used to stage a parody of a trial. He was electroshocked, and his intimate photos from his phone were distributed among other inmates, turning his life in prison into a living hell. He was found dead next to a bloodied razor blade. I remember when Russia sent the group t.A.T.u. to Eurovision, and now we witness a person being tortured to death in prison for being part of the LGBT community. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/breaking-russian-lgbtq-travel-organiser-34388869

[karlachismylife]

TW

Andrey Kotov, the man that was arrested for breaking the anti LGBT+ law (so in the eyes of it he was organising and participating in an extremist organization) was found dead in his cell tonight (we just learnt it in the news)

He was tortured, beaten and electrocuted. Main version is suicide, but you can't blame me for having my doubts.

Even if he was the one who did the last deed, it was the regime that killed him.

I am watching a 20 second snippet of a policeman struggling to undo handcuffs on Andrey's hands before leading him somewhere in the court. It's just a man. Who might have been doing tours for queer people, maybe escort tours.

He did not deserve to die in jail as a perceived extremist.

I am reading the news after a mildly uncomfortable talk to some fellow ghoap enjoyers, girls that are nothing like me. They're cis straight normal girls with a heavy trad streak and an aftertaste of well-meaning confused transphobia.

They won't even get news on Andrey's death in their feed. It's being posted in a very specific segment of internet they most probably aren't looking at. This is a barely audible tragedy that will get drowned out by bigger numbers deaths, by war, by so much depressing shit.

How am I supposed to go on, to do my uni shit that's long overdue, to decorate our tree that's also long overdue, to write Christmas stories that are also long overdue, to look out of the window and not think about jumping. Death is so easy. Death is always near. It's an overnight blink, we barely got any movement on Andrey's case, unlike many others that I've been following for months, for years, endless battles in court, dozens of names I know how to write with my eyes closed despite never having met the person. And now he's gone.

For some reason pigeons have been gathering outside my window for weeks already. They usually stay one story up, but lately they've been literally at my window. I don't think it's warm there. Or comfortable for them to fit their fat feathery arses on the narrow line. But they're coming over and over, staying, looking at me, flying away only to come back.

What are these pigeons. Why are they coming. Are they here to stop me or are they calling me to join them.

Is there anybody who can tell me what to do? I don't know myself. I don't know how to do anything alone.

[leelooel]

Photographed by Andrey Kotov

[onbreakreadlastpost]

10 arrested for writing gay erotica in China as part of nationwide crackdown

Russia passes bill to outlaw adoption by people from countries where gender-affirming care is legal

Gay clubgoers found guilty of “hooliganism” following Moscow raids

Cops beat gay couple in their homes as Belarus seeks to mimic Russia’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws

Russia: Man accused of organizing LGBTQ+ tours dies in jail

LGBTQ+ charities that you can donate to

[scottiestoybox]

ADVOCATE: Man arrested under Russia's 'international LGBT extremism' law dies in custody

Man arrested under Russia’s ‘international LGBT extremism’ law dies in custody Andrei Kotov ran a travel agency that reportedly catered to gay men. Read in Advocate: https://apple.news/AOMLdIA0qTDGxo3M84aG0lg Shared from Apple News Best Wishes and Hugs,Scottie

[fritzes]

going from the matteo/andrey match to the jannik/kotov match is an insane contrast, you could not find two more different matches

[mongowheelie]

Russian man accused of running LGBTQ travel agency found dead in custody

Another "accident"

[top4allo]

Russian man arrested for allegedly running travel agency for gay clients found dead in custody in Moscow

Putin’s crackdown widens after Navalny’s death Putin’s crackdown widens, Russian-Americans arrested and accused of treason 04:11 A Russian man arrested for allegedly running a travel agency for gay clients has been found dead in custody in Moscow, rights group OVD-Info said on Sunday, amid a crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights in Russia. According to OVD-Infowhich tracks political arrests, Andrei Kotov…