Amnesty International says groups that defend LGBT rights are facing a rise in hostility in parts of the former Soviet Union, fueled by discrimination, homophobia, and what it called Russia’s crusade against “nontraditional sexual relationships.” Released on December 22, the report by the global human rights watchdog found that LGBT rights groups in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan were facing an “increasingly discriminatory environment.” Denis Krivosheev, deputy director for Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International, said that while lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex activists had long faced discrimination in those four countries, the situation has worsened due to “the extent of Russian influence and the reach of its media.”