PODCAST
Protests in Belarus
EXCLUSIVE
Belarusian refugee found hanged in Kyiv, dissidents feel threatened
Elina Kent: Welcome to the Kyiv Post Podcast, where you can tune in to stories that give you a deeper understanding of Ukraine.
I’m your host Elina Kent. I’m a multimedia producer and lifestyle journalist here at the Kyiv Post. This week we are covering the death of Belarusian dissident Vitaliy Shyshov, Head of the Belarusian House in Ukraine, who was found hanged in a Kyiv park on August 3.
I’m joined by our staff writer Oleksiy Sorokin who has been closely following the story.
Oleksiy Sorokin: Hello.
EK: Vitaliy Shyshov, led an NGO that provides assistance to Belarusian refugees fleeing from persecution.
While in Ukraine, Shyshov organized protests against Lukashenko’s regime and appealed to Ukrainian government agencies to promote bills aimed at providing aid to Belarusians in Ukraine.
EK: But after leaving his house at 9 a.m. on August 2 to go for a jog, Shyshov never returned.
His body was found a day later. Police have launched a criminal investigation saying that they are looking into a potential murder framed as suicide.
Oleksiy, what do we know about his death as of now?
OS: Ihor Klymenko, the head of the National Police, said during a press briefing that Shyshov had injuries, specifying that Shyshov had certain scratches, torn skin on his nose, left knee and chest.
Shyshov fled from Belarus to Ukraine in the fall of 2020 after participating in countrywide protests against Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko.
Rodion Batulin, Ukraine’s Belarusian House Deputy Head, said that Shyshov and his girlfriend were being followed and watched on several occasions.
EK: Bazhena Zholudz, Shyshov’s girlfriend, spoke at a protest in front of the Belarusian Embassy on August 3.
Soundbite: Chants from protest
Bazhena Zholudz: Stop walking around with flowers and signs. Peaceful protests won’t solve anything. Yesterday this happened with Vitalik, tomorrow it will happen to you. They don’t care. They don’t care that we are standing here and yelling.
EK: Shyshov’s death garnered international attention. In Kyiv, around 100 people gathered to protest outside the embassy, many Belarusians who now fear for their lives, like Igor Kravchenko, a human rights defender and civic activist, now Belarusian political refugee in Kyiv. Before, he felt safe in Ukraine, that has since changed.
Igor Kravchenko: “We ran from Lukashenko’s regime because we could have been imprisoned and after today it looks like here we can get killed.” The regime of Belarus did this. The FSB. There is no doubt about it.
OS: This isn’t the first time that Belarusian activists have been murdered in Ukraine. Just around the corner of the Belarusian Embassy in Kyiv, stands the memorial of Belarus-born journalist Pavel Sheremet. He was killed by a car bomb in downtown Kyiv in July 2016, his murder remains unsolved. Sheremet, who fled Belarus in 1997, was a fierce critic of Lukashenko.
Other dissidents fleeing Vladimir Putin’s Russia have met similar fates. In March 2017, former Russian lawmaker Denis Voronenkov was shot dead in downtown Kyiv. In October of the same year, Amina Okueva, a high-profile Chechen activist and war veteran, was killed 10 kilometers southwest of Kyiv.
EK: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the Belarusian opposition leader in Belarus’ contested 2020 presidential election, now, too, a political refugee, tweeted that she was, Devastated by the news of the death of Vitaliy Shyshov.That her heart is with his family. And that it is worrying that those who flee Belarus still can’t be safe.
She also wrote, “Belarusians cannot be safe, even abroad” on her telegram channel.
OS: After the Shyshov’s death, President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered law enforcers to provide protection to all Belarusians who arrived in Ukraine during the last year and who may be under threat for their activism.
Yet, as of now these are only words. We are yet to see any moves toward making Ukraine a safe place for political refugees. The murderous regimes of Lukashenko and Putin won’t stop tracking down dissidents and ordering their executions. Today, Belarusian activists, Russian opposition lawmakers and Ukrainian service people are seemingly easy targets.
Ukraine needs to reform its Security Service and prop up its counterintelligence, reform the SBU and conduct a thorough investigation on why Ukraine is so bad at stopping foreign intelligence running around Kyiv murdering people.
EK: It’s been one year since the Belarusian people took to the streets to peacefully protest against what was widely viewed as a rigged election that kept Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko in power.
Lukashenko has been the president of Belarus since 1994 and has crushed all opposition, forcing current opposition leader Svitlana Tikhanovskaya to flee the country.
OS: Today there are over 600 political prisoners in Belarus, activists were tortured in detainment. Thousands of refugees have fled Belarus to Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania..
Amid a new wave of raids and arrests directed against journalists and rights activists, more Belarusians have been fleeing from persecution recently. Yet as we see, Ukraine is not a safe place for them to settle.
EK: Belarusians have faced danger far beyond their borders as we have discussed.
A day before Shyshov’s death, Belarusian Olympic athlete Kristina Timanovskaya claimed she was being forced against her will to leave Tokyo for Belarus after criticizing her coaches at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Timanovskaya refused orders to fly home and was subsequently granted a humanitarian visa by Poland.
Her husband was able to flee Belarus and arrived in Ukraine around the same time.
OK: Ukraine needs to prop up its defense, its intelligence and its commitment to those who seek shelter in Ukraine.
EK: That was this week’s episode of the Kyiv Post podcast. I’m your host Elina Kent. You can subscribe to our podcasts on all streaming platforms and follow along on the Kyiv Post website. Stay safe and subscribe to the Kyiv Post!
