German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised concerns over persecution of gay men in Chechnya to Russia's president Vladimir Putin. Merkel publicly pressed the Russian leader about the alleged anti-gay purge amid at a joint conference in Sochi with more than 100 attendees. The Kremlin backed Chechnya's denials that the government had no further information about the human rights crisis. Merkel called on Putin to investigate the allegations and ensure protections for the LGBT community within the nation's territories.
