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A Belarusian activist was reportedly found dead in a park in Kiev, Ukraine.
Vitaly Shishov led Kiev-based non-profit organization Belarusian House (BDU) that helps Belarusians fleeing persecution.
He was reported missing on August 2nd prior to his body being discovered.
“Belarusian citizen Vitaly Shishov, who disappeared yesterday in Kiev, was found hanged today in one of Kiev’s parks, not far from his place of residence,” police said.
Police have launched a criminal case for suspected murder but said in a statement they will be investigating all possibilities, including murder disguised as suicide.
Police are appealing for witnesses and potential CCTV footage from the local area as part of the investigation.
Members of the BDU were combing the area where Shishov usually jogs and contacted the police when they were unsuccessful.
Shishov is originally from the southeastern Belarusian town of Rechytsa and moved to Ukraine following the country’s hotly disputed August 2020 presidential election, in which strongman Lukashenko claimed victory, leading to mass street protests.
It should also not be disregarded that Ukraine is full of all sorts of radicals, especially those from the Nazi-infested volunteer battalions.
Many Belarusians have reportedly fled the country after “Europe’s last dictator” Alexander Lukashenko’s government began persecuting those attempting to stoke violent riots and organize a coup.
Many of the riot organizers left for Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania in particular to escape persecution.
Belarusian journalist Taduesz Gizcan said in a tweet that police traced Shishov’s phone during the search for him “to no avail” and that his friends said he has been followed recently.
Since the August 2020 presidential vote that the West denounced as rigged, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has been subject to various accusations, as well as a coup attempt and an attempt on his life.
MSM and the West conveniently forget all of these facts and simply report that Lukashenko is carrying out a sort of Purge-style violent crackdown on protesters.
Thousands of opposition demonstrators have been arrested since the disputed vote, while many NGOs and independent media have been forced into liquidation.
The news of Shishov’s death comes a day after Belarusian sprinter Krystina Tsimanouskaya received a humanitarian visa from Poland after refusing to board a Minsk-bound flight from Tokyo.
Her husband Arseny Zdanevich told AFP he had fled from Belarus to Ukraine and was hoping to join his wife “in the near future”.
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