Yelena Grigoryeva

Yelena 'Lena' Grigoryeva was a human rights and LGBTQ rights activist. She also opposed the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation. She was murdered in St. Petersburg, Russia on 21 July 2019, when she was stabbed and strangled to death by unknown assailants, her body being found by a passer-by near her home. Grigoryeva's identifying information had appeared in July on a website created by a group calling themselves ‘Saw’ after the American horror film franchise. The group encouraged readers to hunt and murder a list of LGBTQ+ people. Saw's website was blocked in Russia but a new list of LGBTQ+ activists, journalists and citizens is circulating on social media apps and messaging apps in the country, still encouraging others to murder LGBTQ+ people in Russia.