This is taking place in Russia, in a republic called Chechnya. From Buzzfeed: But the Chechen government denies that gay men even exist in Chechnya. “You cannot arrest or repress people who just don’t exist in the republic,” a spokesman told Interfax. Sources: https://www.buzzfeed.com/hayesbrown/the-chechen-government-is-reportedly-kidnapping-and?utm_term=.anVZGaN5Q#.mkMRDZrKk https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/01/world/europe/chechen-authorities-arresting-and-killing-gay-m