Vital Szyszou is dead. Commemoration of the activist in front of the Belarusian embassy in Kiev

About 200-300 people gathered in front of the Belarusian diplomatic mission in Kiev to commemorate Vital Szyszou. Many of them had white, red and white flags symbolizing the Belarusian opposition and photos of the deceased. People laid flowers and lit candles in front of the cross opposite the embassy. The remembrance of the activist was honored with a minute’s silence.

WATCH LIVE ON TVN24 GO

– They are trying to intimidate those who are most active abroad, who are still fighting the regime. Those who came here felt free because they managed to escape the regime, avoid imprisonment and persecution. But now we see that we can die here, said one of the men.

– It is a surprise and a shock that opponents of the regime are dying abroad. This was expected, but it is sad to realize that this moment has just come. It is too early to say what the consequences will be, stressed another participant in the assembly in front of the Belarusian embassy in Kiev. – But in my opinion it will not weaken the will to fight. On the contrary, it will anger people even more and remind us of who our enemy is. That he is responsible for all evil and that it is our duty to fight against him – he added.

– We knew Vital well. He was among the refugees who came to Kiev in mid-October. He was a very calm, balanced man – says Alena Tolstaya, who was at the head of the Razam Solidarity Movement. – His murder shows that no one is insured against the threat of political murder. Unfortunately, no one can feel safe today as long as there is a Lukashenko-Putin regime, she said.

– I want you to meet my eyes. I want to appeal to all Belarusians. I ask all of you: stop walking with flowers, posters – we will achieve nothing with a peaceful protest! Yesterday it happened with Vitalik, and tomorrow it will happen with you. They do not care that we are standing here, shouting something – said the girl Szyszoua Bażena Żołudź.

The gathered people chanted: “Żywie Biełaruś!”, “We will not forget, we will not forgive!”, “No political killings!”, “No torture in prisons!”, “Freedom to Belarusian political prisoners!”. During the action, flares were fired. Speakers appealed to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, to take under personal control the investigation into the death of a Belarusian who, according to them, had been killed.

The hanged body of a 26-year-old Belarusian activist was found in one of Kiev’s parks on Tuesday morning. The day before, the Belarusian House in Ukraine informed about his disappearance. He helps Belarusians fleeing their homeland from persecution. As stated, the man most likely went out for a jog in the morning and did not come home.

The two main potential causes of the death of a Belarusian activist are investigators investigating suicide and homicide simulated like suicide, the Ukrainian police informed during a briefing. Szyszou’s friends declare that they do not believe that he took his own life.

In the context of the activist’s death, some recall the story of the Belarusian journalist Pavel Sheremet, who died in a bomb attack in the center of Kiev five years ago. The ordering parties are still not established.