“As for Kadyrov’s interview, frankly speaking, very often, his words are taken out of context,” Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.
Peskov added that if the comments were considered in the correct context, “nothing out of the ordinary was said there.”
In April, Russian investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported on secret prisons in Chechnya where gay men were allegedly detained and tortured.
Last week, the newspaper published the names of 27 detainees it believes were murdered by Chechen security forces.