Police in Yevpatoria, a resort town in western Crimea, are investigating the killing of a foreign tourist who may have died at the hands of homophobes.
The local news agency KrymInform cited the press service of the Crimean police as saying "the deceased was a foreigner of nontraditional sexual orientation, who for the past five years had been visiting Crimea regularly for vacations."
Police did not specify the victim's nationality.
"There are signs of a violent death," the press service said Tuesday, when the body was discovered near the city's Monument to the Fallen Sailor, adding that "most likely, the reason for the killing was his nontraditional activities."
The incident comes as Russia's Federal Tourism Agency seeks to promote Crimea as an ideal tourist destination, having asked state companies earlier this month to send their employees to Crimean resorts for vacation.
Killings motivated by homophobia are not uncommon in Russia, with human rights activists arguing Russia's gay propaganda law, which bans the promotion of nontraditional sexual relations to minors, has given homophobes carte blanche to target gays.
Russia annexed Crimea in March, amid arguments the move would protect the Black Sea peninsula from the often violent expressions of fascism allegedly gaining force in other parts of Ukraine.
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