Oksana Shachko (right in photo) the 31 year old Ukrainian co-founder of a feminist Putin protest movement was found dead her Paris apartment. She and other members of her group, Femen, often protested against Putin by appearing nude in public. A suicide note was found next to her body, but foul play can't yet be ruled out, given the history of incidents in which she's been harassed and threatened by pro-Putin groups.
From The Guardian:
In 2011, Femen said Shachko was among three members “kidnapped” by security agents and forced to strip naked in a forest after staging a topless protest mocking the Belarussian president, Alexander Lukashenko. The agents poured oil over the three women, threatened to set them on fire, and cut off their hair, Femen said.
Shachko was abducted again by unknown assailants during a visit by Putin to Ukraine, according to the group. A lawyer for said Shachko was beaten so badly that she was briefly hospitalised.
UPDATE: The New York Times reports that police say Shachko hanged herself, "pending the results of an autopsy."
Image: Joseph.paris [FAL], from Wikimedia Commons
