How Russia reacted to Orlando

EFD Fellow Anna Borshchevskaya writes about Russia's reaction after the Orlando shooting, where 50 people lost their lives.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a telegram with condolences to President Obama where he stressed that the Russian people "share the pain and sorrow of those who lost their loved ones as a result of this barbaric crime and hope for a speedy recovery of the wounded." However, writes Borshchevskaya, soon after Putin assumed his third presidential term in 2012 (despite the largest protests since the break-up of the Soviet Union), he began a massive and broad crackdown on Russia's civil society. Among his targets was the LGBT community, portraying homosexuality as an example of Western moral decline.

This article is in English and can be read here.