An international ring of 130 paedophiles has been busted in Russia, a public organisation said on Wednesday.
The League of Internet Security said it broke the ring in cooperation with the police.
League president Konstantin Malofeyev described the ring as the ‘largest in the history of Russian internet’.
Most of the ring members were Russian nationals. There were also German, French and Israeli citizens involved, as well as people from many former Soviet states.
In October, the Russian parliament's lower house, the State Duma, approved a bill stipulating chemical castration for paedophiles.
President Dmitry Medvedev said punishment for paedophiles should be ‘as harsh as possible’.
The bill also stipulates that paedophiles should be stripped of the right to plea for a suspended sentence and re-offenders for sex crimes against minors will face life sentences.
The chemical castration procedure involves regular injections leading to a fall in levels of the male hormone testosterone, which suppresses sexual drive.