July 01, 2025

The Persecution Doesn't Stay at Home


The Persecution Doesn't Stay at Home
A threat left on Sasha Kazantseva's Vilnius mailbox reading "Hello from Tselitel," a homophobic group. SotaVision, Telegram.

On June 24, a LGBT rights activist reported on Telegram that homophobic groups from Russia were still harassing her in exile in Lithuania. The harassers left a message on her mailbox in her Vilnius apartment reading, "Hello from [Imperia] Tselitelya," referring to a homophobic group.

Sasha Kazantseva is a sex educator and LGBT rights activist with over 26,000 Instagram followers and 42,000 members in her Telegram channel pomyla ruky ("washed hands"). On June 24, she wrote on her Telegram, "[They] are looking for me, today [they] came to my house in Vilnius. I want to say it publicity, because if something happens to me, it's better that more people know." Kazantseva said the homophobic Russian group targetting her is Imperia Tselitelya ("Empire of the Healer").

Kazantseva and the news channel SotaVision published a video to Telegram originally uploaded to Imperia Tselitelya's closed channel. The recording showed an unknown person approaching a group of houses. Then, the cameraman recorded a mailbox with the inscription.

This latest intimidation is just the tip of the iceberg. Kazantseva said that the extremist group organized a bot attack against LGBT accounts, including her own. On June 20, SK SOS, a group which protects queer persons in the Northern Caucasus, revealed it was also attacked by bots.

According to Kazantseva, Imperia Tselitelya has been trying to physically harm her. The activist said she suspects that, on the day of the attack, a man arrived with the intention of assaulting her, but she wasn't home. According to SotaVision, Imperia Tselitelya confirmed a member went to her house. The group said, "We missed Sasha, decided to stop by, eat [something], but [the house] was empty." The group then doxxed her, publishing her address online.

In March, the Russian Ministry of the Interior included Kazantseva on a list of wanted persons. The authorities did not specify why she is wanted.

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