Ukraine looks to step up protection for Belarusian dissidents after a Belarusian activist was found dead in Kyiv on Tuesday

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered extra protection for Belarusian dissidents in Ukraine.
• He said Belarusians who are targeted for their public political positions "must obtain special and reliable protection."
• A Belarusian activist was found dead in a park in Kyiv on Tuesday, in what police called a "murder disguised as a suicide."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered extra protection Wednesday for Belarusian dissidents in his country after a Belarusian activist was found dead in a Ukrainian park on Tuesday.

Vitaly Shishov, the leader of Belarusian House in Ukraine - an organization that helps people who left Belarus - went missing Monday after leaving for a jog. His body was later found hanging in a park in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, on Tuesday.

Police have opened a murder investigation into the incident, saying it could have been a "murder disguised as a suicide."

"Every Belarusian who can become the target of criminals because of their public political position must obtain special and reliable protection," Zelensky said in a statement Wednesday, AFP reported.

He also ordered the Interior Ministry and the Security Service of Ukraine to "work out a clear algorithm for assessing possible risks" to "eliminate any threat to people."

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has an iron grip on Belarus, cracking down on dissenting speech and prompting many to flee to neighboring Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania.

Close to 10,000 Belarusians applied for asylum or humanitarian visas to Poland in the past year, Reuters reported, citing the Polish foreign ministry and Poland's Office for Foreigners.

Shishov, 26, had been helping people who fled to Ukraine from Belarus.

Last week, the Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya received a humanitarian visa from Poland after refusing to be sent home from the Tokyo Olympics. Tsimanouskaya said she feared for her safety after criticizing her coaches on social media. She is in Warsaw now, while her husband and her daughter had also left Belarus for Ukraine.

In May, Lukashenko attracted international condemnation after Belarus ordered the diversion of a passenger flight carrying the dissident Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend. The plane was flying to Lithuania from Greece when it was redirected to Belarusian capital, Minsk, over an alleged bomb threat, which was later found to have been sent after the plane had already been diverted. The two were detained upon landing, and Protasevich was put under house arrest.