A Belarusian opposition leader responsible for helping fellow Belarusian citizens flee persecution was found hanged in a park in Kiev, Ukraine.
Shortly after going for a run and never returning home, Vitaly Shishov’s partner reported him missing. On Tuesday morning, police found the head of the Belarusian House in Ukraine hanging from a tree in the park not far from his home.
Ukranian police are investigating the death as a murder, calling Shishov’s death a “premeditative murder meant to look like suicide.”
After Shishov’s death, the Belarusian House said that their leader had been “under surveillance” and had received numerous warnings about threats he faced before his death.
“Vitaly was under surveillance. There were appropriate notifications to the police about the facts. Also we were repeatedly warned by local sources and by our own people in Belarus about all kinds of provocations up to kidnapping and liquidation,” the organization known by the initials BDU said in a statement. “Vitaly treated these warnings with stoicism and humor, stating that at least in this way, it would be possible for BDU to get out of the info vacuum.”
As Belarus continues to deal with political turmoil stemming from the election of President Alexander Lukashenko, the BDU helped those fleeing Belarusians find accommodation, work, and legal counsel while living in Ukraine, according to CNN.
At a news conference, the head of the Ukranian national police Ihor Klymenko said that preliminary findings in the murder investigation show that Shishov’s body was found to have “abrasions” along with “peeled skin” that “can be characteristic of a onetime fall.”
Security footage showed Shishov leaving his home at around 9 a.m. local time on Monday and he was expected to return home just an hour later, the BDU said.
He “went out, presumably for a daily jog (his sports things were not found at home) and did not return. Several so-called ‘jammers’ were made from his number, but now it is impossible to contact him,” the organization continued.
The organization also noted that Shishov’s phone had its tracking ability disconnected and was not wearing his watch or fitness bracelet.
A friend of Shishov, Yury Shchuchko, told Ukranian TV that after learning of Shishov’s disappearance, he went out with a group of people to search for Shishov.
“At 6 a.m. we went out to search,” Shchuchko said. “The police at that time started canvassing the surrounding buildings. We went to the park and found what we found.”
He also added that there were “traces of violent death” on Shishov’s face.
After a meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya spoke on Shishov’s death, hinting at the possibility he was murdered, but declining to make that determination until Ukranian police concluded their investigation.
“I prefer to wait for the results of investigation … because I understand the background of this death. I would say it is a crime but I can’t say it without results of an investigation,” Tikhanovskaya said.
The Ukrainian foreign minister also weighed in on the “tragic news” of Shishov’s death, adding that “Ukraine will do everything possible to fully investigate the case: it is of utmost importance for us to reveal the truth about his tragic death.”