Members of notorious Russian anti-gay vigilantes groups create new bases in Ukraine and recruit new army from locals.

In late February 2017, Ukrainian authorities arrested a large group of anti-gay vigilantes in central Ukraine. 11 people from Kropyvnytskyi are all members of the “White Lions” movement that 'catches pedophiles'. They are accused of hunting down, beating and extorting money from their queer victims, following well-publicized activity of a similiar homophobic movement in neighboring Russia.

Hromadske tries to figure out who the members of the movement are and what they have in common with the similiar Russian nationalist movement.

According to the regional prosecutor’s office in Kropyvnytskyi, the detained members of the ‘White Lions’ group attacked alleged pedophiles, filmed their victims being assaulted on video, and then extorted money from them, threatening to share the video on social media. The local court sent two of the main organisers to pre-trial detention, put one of the underage members under house arrest, and sent a further eight underage vigilantes back under parental supervision. Read more via Hromadske international