There are certain Russian politicians out there who have a habit of insisting that their agendas don't persecute homosexual people in the slightest, while their actions suggest otherwise. Take President Vladimir Putin, for example. The current President of the Russian Federation has constantly denied that the laws he signs off place infringements on gay rights. However, still he signed a law banning the promotion of homosexual behaviour to minors, supports the ban on same-sex adoption of Russian children and makes it illegal for anyone in Russian to imply in any way that he himself is gay.

Or, try Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who, despite numerous claims of brutal gay concentration camps in his region, has denied the existence of homosexual people in his region completely - as well as later adding that if such people did exist, they would be killed by their own families anyway. “If there are any gays...Take them away from us," he said. "To purify our blood, if there are any, take them. They are devils. They are for sale. They are not people.”

But however horrifyingly blatant the persecution becomes, in Russia, there's always room for it to become even worse. The latest wave of homophobia in the country has come in the form of a viral video, which claims that Russians who do not vote in the upcoming election risk seeing their country transformed into a homosexual-friendly state where citizens are forced to live in the same houses as gay people and sleep in the same beds.

Last weekend the three-minute video, which stars professional actors, was uploaded to social media and within days had been watched by millions of people. The footage is set on 17 March, the eve of Russia's upcoming presidential election, which will see President Putin face off with candidates including Communist party candidate Pavel Grudinin, and a liberal journalist who has spoken out in favour of LGBT rights, Ksenia Sobchak.

It begins with a middle-aged man mocking his wife, who is keen to set an alarm so she will get up to vote in time the next day: "As if they won't elect someone without you," he tells her, before informing her that they are sleeping in in the morning and, with a quick snore, falling asleep milliseconds after his head hits the pillow.

In his dream, he heads into the kitchen, where a tattooed homosexual man sits filing his nails. After asking his wife "who the f*** is this?", he discovers that the man is a "gay on a homestay", with his wife reminding him that, under a new law, Russian families are now obliged to take in gay people who have been abandoned by their partners. The gay man, wearing pink, shrugs at him and tells him "it's the law", before biting somewhat seductively into a banana.

Later on in the film, in the style of a classic horror movie nightmare scene, he is woken up - only to look over to find himself in bed with the homosexual man, who snuggles up to him. With the audience discovering that he is still dreaming, he then wakes up for real, straight away shouting at his wife to get up and vote "before it's too late".

The homophobic video also pinpoints other "evils" like the maximum military conscription age being raised from 27 to 60, having a black man in the military, reminders of a Soviet youth program, massive inflation and rationed time to use the toilet. However, the targeting of the LGBT community has merited the most outrage among Russian political circles, citizens and people abroad.

It is currently unknown who or which party is behind the video, however many people have accused President Putin's campaign of financing the footage. Opposition journalists are said to be sure that the guilty party is either Putin’s campaign team or the government-controlled election committee. Meduza, an opposition website, accused the video’s producers of trying to scare Russians into voting by playing on widespread homophobia and xenophobia. Putin's opponent and LGBT supporter Ksenia Sobchak named the video an “incitement to hatred” against members of Russia’s gay community, stating: “In my opinion, we can laugh about anyone. About Hitler and about gays. But to expose LGBT people to a threat in a homophobic country, this is no joke.”

The actors featured in the video have denied that they have any knowledge about who funded the footage. However, actress Svetlana Galka, who plays the wife in the short film, allegedly told a Moscow radio station that although she didn't know who was behind the video, she believed it resonated because it spoke to “what our Russian person has somewhere in their subconscious.”

The 2018 Russian election has already never been too far away from controversy, with former candidate Alexei Navalny being barred from running for President in December 2017 after he was found guilty in a fraud case. Named by several newspapers as "the man who could bring down Vladimir Putin", Navalny is still organising protests and encouraging Russians to boycott the election, claiming that the ruling was politically motivated.

Regardless of the claims that the election is fixed, President Putin is stated to have an 80 per cent approval rating across Russia, implying a decisive first-round victory on March 17. And despite the rumours that he is behind the homophobic video - and the discriminatory laws he has signed off in the past - the current leader is said to have a gay following. Shockingly, a group calling itself "Gays for Putin" announced plans in February to hold a rally in support of his leadership bid, claiming: "Putin signs laws that serve to strengthen the moral and spiritual foundations of Russian society. Notable homosexuals are awarded with orders and medals."

“We decided to express the impetus of the gay community by openly supporting Vladimir Putin as a presidential candidate," the group reportedly stated in a statement published online on Tuesday.

Although this LGBT group clearly doesn't see anything wrong with Putin's attitude towards the homosexual community, there are millions of people out there who would jump to disagree with them and list the number of horrific laws that he has inflicted upon them. Despite all bets being on Putin, many out there are crossing their fingers in the hope that the upcoming election could surprise us all. Whatever happens next, we can only pray that whoever is elected treats the beleaguered LGBT community in Russia with the respect they deserve.

There are certain Russian politicians out there who have a habit of insisting that their agendas don't persecute homosexual people in the slightest, while their actions suggest otherwise. Take President Vladimir Putin, for example. The current President of the Russian Federation has constantly denied that the laws he signs off place infringements on gay rights. However, still he signed a law banning the promotion of homosexual behaviour to minors, supports the ban on same-sex adoption of Russian children and makes it illegal for anyone in Russian to imply in any way that he himself is gay.

Or, try Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who, despite numerous claims of brutal gay concentration camps in his region, has denied the existence of homosexual people in his region completely - as well as later adding that if such people did exist, they would be killed by their own families anyway. “If there are any gays...Take them away from us," he said. "To purify our blood, if there are any, take them. They are devils. They are for sale. They are not people.”

But however horrifyingly blatant the persecution becomes, in Russia, there's always room for it to become even worse. The latest wave of homophobia in the country has come in the form of a viral video, which claims that Russians who do not vote in the upcoming election risk seeing their country transformed into a homosexual-friendly state where citizens are forced to live in the same houses as gay people and sleep in the same beds.

Last weekend the three-minute video, which stars professional actors, was uploaded to social media and within days had been watched by millions of people. The footage is set on 17 March, the eve of Russia's upcoming presidential election, which will see President Putin face off with candidates including Communist party candidate Pavel Grudinin, and a liberal journalist who has spoken out in favour of LGBT rights, Ksenia Sobchak.

It begins with a middle-aged man mocking his wife, who is keen to set an alarm so she will get up to vote in time the next day: "As if they won't elect someone without you," he tells her, before informing her that they are sleeping in in the morning and, with a quick snore, falling asleep milliseconds after his head hits the pillow.

In his dream, he heads into the kitchen, where a tattooed homosexual man sits filing his nails. After asking his wife "who the f*** is this?", he discovers that the man is a "gay on a homestay", with his wife reminding him that, under a new law, Russian families are now obliged to take in gay people who have been abandoned by their partners. The gay man, wearing pink, shrugs at him and tells him "it's the law", before biting somewhat seductively into a banana.

Later on in the film, in the style of a classic horror movie nightmare scene, he is woken up - only to look over to find himself in bed with the homosexual man, who snuggles up to him. With the audience discovering that he is still dreaming, he then wakes up for real, straight away shouting at his wife to get up and vote "before it's too late".

The homophobic video also pinpoints other "evils" like the maximum military conscription age being raised from 27 to 60, having a black man in the military, reminders of a Soviet youth program, massive inflation and rationed time to use the toilet. However, the targeting of the LGBT community has merited the most outrage among Russian political circles, citizens and people abroad.

It is currently unknown who or which party is behind the video, however many people have accused President Putin's campaign of financing the footage. Opposition journalists are said to be sure that the guilty party is either Putin’s campaign team or the government-controlled election committee. Meduza, an opposition website, accused the video’s producers of trying to scare Russians into voting by playing on widespread homophobia and xenophobia. Putin's opponent and LGBT supporter Ksenia Sobchak named the video an “incitement to hatred” against members of Russia’s gay community, stating: “In my opinion, we can laugh about anyone. About Hitler and about gays. But to expose LGBT people to a threat in a homophobic country, this is no joke.”

The actors featured in the video have denied that they have any knowledge about who funded the footage. However, actress Svetlana Galka, who plays the wife in the short film, allegedly told a Moscow radio station that although she didn't know who was behind the video, she believed it resonated because it spoke to “what our Russian person has somewhere in their subconscious.”

The 2018 Russian election has already never been too far away from controversy, with former candidate Alexei Navalny being barred from running for President in December 2017 after he was found guilty in a fraud case. Named by several newspapers as "the man who could bring down Vladimir Putin", Navalny is still organising protests and encouraging Russians to boycott the election, claiming that the ruling was politically motivated.

Regardless of the claims that the election is fixed, President Putin is stated to have an 80 per cent approval rating across Russia, implying a decisive first-round victory on March 17. And despite the rumours that he is behind the homophobic video - and the discriminatory laws he has signed off in the past - the current leader is said to have a gay following. Shockingly, a group calling itself "Gays for Putin" announced plans in February to hold a rally in support of his leadership bid, claiming: "Putin signs laws that serve to strengthen the moral and spiritual foundations of Russian society. Notable homosexuals are awarded with orders and medals."

“We decided to express the impetus of the gay community by openly supporting Vladimir Putin as a presidential candidate," the group reportedly stated in a statement published online on Tuesday.

Although this LGBT group clearly doesn't see anything wrong with Putin's attitude towards the homosexual community, there are millions of people out there who would jump to disagree with them and list the number of horrific laws that he has inflicted upon them. Despite all bets being on Putin, many out there are crossing their fingers in the hope that the upcoming election could surprise us all. Whatever happens next, we can only pray that whoever is elected treats the beleaguered LGBT community in Russia with the respect they deserve.