On a remote farm in Siberia, a man handed Ada a knife. In front of them was a pig. “Cut it off,” he said. “If you want to go ahead with the operation, you need to understand what castration means.” Ada was 23 and transgender – she had been tricked into going to a conversion therapy centre after coming out to her family. She says that earlier in the summer of 2021, a relative asked her to accompany her to Novosibirsk, where she was due to undergo major heart surgery. Ada says a man met them at the airport and after a long drive, the car suddenly stopped, Ada’s relative jumped out, the driver turned to Ada, demanded she hand over her smartwatch and phone, and told her bluntly: “Now we’re going to cure you of your perversion.”