A spokesperson for the Ukrainian police force said that according to reports, the head of a non-profit organization in Kiev that helped Belarusians escape persecution did not return after running in the morning and disappeared.
Police said on Monday that Vitaly Shishov, the head of the Belarusian House (BDU) in Ukraine, had been reported missing by his partner.
“We will investigate until there is information about what happened to him. His partner’s statement has been registered. The partner said he ran away, did not come back, and disappeared,” a police spokesperson said by phone.
The police and volunteers searched the place where he ran but could not find him.
Human rights group Vyasna said on Telegram that Shishov’s friends said that he was recently followed by “strangers” while jogging.
Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania become safe havens for Belarusians The violent suppression of President Alexander Lukashenko Since the controversial election last year.
According to its website, BDU helps Belarusians find accommodation, work and legal advice. In another statement, the organization stated that it could not contact Shishov.
At the time of Shishov’s disappearance, Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya stated that she was forced to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics and was threatened with forced deportation for criticizing her athletic federation on social media.
Sprinter, who Get a humanitarian visa from Poland On Monday, she said that if she returned to her country, she feared being sentenced to jail because the authorities had targeted opponents of the president, human rights activists and journalists.
Her husband, Arseny Zdanevich, told AFP that he had fled from Belarus to Ukraine and hoped to be reunited with his wife “in the near future.”
Lukashenko and his son Victor were banned from participating in the Olympics because of their political views against athletes.
The president sparked international anger in May Dispatch a fighter jet to intercept a Ryanair plane taking off from Greece Lithuania, to arrest dissidents on board.
Reuters and AFP
