The head of a group helping people who have fled Belarus has been found dead near his home in neighbouring Ukraine, writes BBC.

Vitaly Shishov’s body was found hanged in a park in Kyiv, a day after he failed to return from a jog. Police have opened a murder inquiry.

Police said they were investigating whether he had been killed and his death made to look like suicide.

Meanwhile a Belarusian Olympic sprinter who feared for her safety has been granted a humanitarian visa by Poland.

Mr Shishov led the Belarusian House in Ukraine (BHU), a group helping people who left Belarus, where opposition to the government is stifled.

He was one of many Belarusians who left the country as the security forces violently suppressed protests following the disputed re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko in August 2020.