Putin Ally Compares Ukraine's Military to Sparta: 'Unified Through Gay Sex'

Sergei Markov, a former adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Ukraine's military will become "unified through gay sex" like the Spartans by 2025 during a recent appearance on Russian state television.

Markov's remarks come amid Ukraine's latest counteroffensive against Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's military is seeking to retake control of territory that has been held by Russia, including Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014. Putin launched his "special military operation" on Ukraine in February 2022, hoping for a quick victory over the Eastern European nation, whose stronger-than-expected defense effort, bolstered by Western support, has prevented the Kremlin from achieving its goals for nearly a year-and-a-half.

During his recent appearance, Markov claimed that the United States and Ukraine are hoping to pause the conflict until 2025 in hopes of remaking the Ukrainian military in the image of the Spartans. His comments were translated and uploaded to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday by journalist Julia Davis, who regularly reports on Russian state TV.

Markov added that the U.S. and Ukraine are hoping to begin peace negotiations in the fall, aimed at freezing combat over the winter before training Ukrainian soldiers to launch another offensive in April 2025.

He also claimed the U.S. and Ukraine are planning to use "neuro-linguistic programming" and other psychological studies to turn members of the Ukrainian military gay. However, there is no evidence of this, nor is there evidence of any technology capable of changing a person's sexual orientation.

"They have an artificial political science fascism created by American and British political technologists. They will turn them into zombies, into cult members. I think they will force some to become homosexuals," Markov said.

Many historians have made the case that same-sex relationships were tolerated in ancient Greek societies, including within the Spartan military, long-viewed as one of the most powerful armies of that era.

"Military theorists and historians know which army in Greece was the strongest, remember? The Spartans! They were united by a homosexual brotherhood. They were all homos. These were the politics of their leadership. I think they are planning the same for Ukraine's Armed Forces," Markov said.

"These renewed troops of Ukraine's Armed Forces, zombified and unified through gay sex, along with cult members ready to sacrifice themselves. This is what they're preparing for us in the spring 2025," he said.

Newsweek reached out to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense for comment via email.

Russia has targeted members of the LGBTQ+ community, with the State Duma implementing laws banning the promotion of rights for same-sex couples or transgender individuals.

There have been reports for years that authorities in Russia's Chechnya region have violently persecuted LGBTQ+ people. The State Duma has previously worked to ban LGBTQ+ propaganda, and one Russian commander has cast the invasion of Ukraine as a Holy war against the LGBTQ+ community.

In addition, Equaldex, a website that monitors LGBTQ+ rights across the world, and its LGBTQ+ rights index places Russia as the 23rd worst country to live in for the LGBTQ+ community.