Noted Russian LGBT+ activist, Yelena Grigoryeva, who had been listed on the ‘Saw’ inspired website Пила has been killed in St. Petersburg.

Gay Star News reports Ms Grigoryeva had received numerous death threats online and offline in the past week. The threats had become more frequent following her name being listed on the Saw inspired site.

Пила emerged online in April 2018, taking its name from the movie franchise Saw. The Russian LGBT+ Network announced that the site had been shut down last week.

Fellow activists report that Ms Grigoryeva was found with at least seven stab wounds and signs of strangulation near her home over the weekend.

“She has recently fallen victim to violence and had often been threatened with murder,” fellow activist Dinar Idrisov wrote on Facebook on Monday.

“A reminder: Yelena was listed on the homophobic ‘Saw’ website which has long threatened LGBT activists across the country,” photojournalist Georgy Markov wrote.

A suspect has reportedly been detained in connection with her murder, according to Fontanka.

Ms Grigoryeva, who identified as bisexual, was a prominent campaigner for LGBT+ rights in Russia. It is reported that over the past year she has been detained at LGBT+ protests and rallies against torture and the Chechen-Ingush land swap.

Yelena Grigoryeva is survived by her 20 year-old daughter.

Hate crime in Russia on the rise

Campaigners say that hate crimes related to homo/bi/transphobia have become more frequent since Russia banned “homosexual propaganda” towards minors in 2013.

Hollywood filmmaker Oliver Stone has come under fire this week for saying that Russia’s “anti-gay propaganda” law seems “sensible” in a recent interview with Vladimir Putin.

In 2017, Europe’s top human rights court ruled that the Russian law actually violates several international agreements.

“Above all, by adopting such laws the Court found that the authorities had reinforced stigma and prejudice and encouraged homophobia, which was incompatible with the values — of equality, pluralism and tolerance — of a democratic society,” the European Court of Human Rights wrote in its decision.