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Panorama of Kiev
Photo: Yevhen Kotenko / Ukrinform / imago images
The head of a Belarusian group in exile in Ukraine, who was reported missing, was found dead.
The police announced on Tuesday in Kiev.
Vitali Schischow was discovered hanged in a park in the capital, not far from where he lived.
According to their own statements, the police initiated an investigation.
In addition to other possibilities, the suspicion that it could be a murder disguised as a suicide will be investigated.
Schischow headed the "Belarusian House in Ukraine" organization.
The group takes care of housing, residence permits and jobs for opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko who have fled Belarus.
Schischow was reported missing on Monday by a person close to him after he had not returned from a morning jog.
Just a few days ago, the Belarusian sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya sought protection from the police after critical comments about Belarusian sports officials at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Timanovskaya was apparently supposed to be taken out of the country by representatives of the Belarusian cadre against their will.
Many Belarusians are fleeing to neighboring Ukraine, Poland or Lithuania in the face of repression in their home country.
The Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled for almost three decades, was declared the winner of the election in August despite massive allegations of fraud.
This triggered historic mass protests that were brutally suppressed by the security forces.
as / Reuters / AFP
