A founding member of the prominent protest group Femen, Oksana Shachko, has died in Paris in an apparent suicide, fellow members say, mourning the loss of a woman they called "a heroine of our time."

Femen co-founder Anna Hutsol told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on July 24 that Shachko was dead, following reports that her body was found in her Paris apartment the previous day.

"As far as I know, she was concerned that everything is going badly in the world," Hutsol said of Shachko. She added that "unfortunately," she and Shachko had not been in touch much lately.

"RIP. The most fearless and vulnerable Oksana Shachko has left us," a post on the Femen website said. "We mourn together with her relatives and friends and [await] the official version from the police."

"At the moment it is known that yesterday, July 23, Oksana’s body was found in her apartment in Paris. According to her friends, she left a suicide note," the post said.

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The second secretary at the Ukrainian Embassy in Paris, Oksana Lovha, confirmed Shachko's death to Current Time TV, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.

There was no public comment from French authorities, and Lovha said Ukrainian diplomats were awaiting further details from police.

Founded in Ukraine a decade ago, Femen is known mainly for protests in which activists often bare their breasts -- sometimes exposing slogans written on their skin -- and disrupt political events or gatherings.

Femen activists have rushed politicians such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Czech President Milos Zeman, and public figures like American comic Bill Cosby.

Often directed at leaders they describe as dictators or oppressors, their protests have also taken other forms and targeted issues such as the environment.

A native of Ukraine who had lived in Paris in recent years, Shachko, 31, was one of a group of Femen activists who rushed Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Hannover, Germany, in 2013.

Shachko was "a heroine of our time," a separate post on the Femen website said. "Oksana fought against injustice, fought for equality, fought like a hero for herself and for other women."

"Oksana is no longer with us, but she is here, she is everywhere," it said. "Oksana... is in each of us, she is in FEMEN, and she is in the history of feminism."

A post on the Telegram channel Paris Burns late on July 23 said that Shachko committed suicide and that the police had just removed her body from the apartment.

It was not immediately possible to confirm the information in the Telegram post, which did not provide details or evidence.

Another founding member of Femen, Oleksandra Shevchenko, told the BBC that Shachko had last been seen alive on July 20 and that it was not clear what day she died.

"The autopsy will determine that," she said.

Femen said in 2011 that Shachko was among three members seized by security officers after staging a topless protest mocking Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

It said the officers forced them to strip naked, poured oil over them, threatened to set them on fire, and cut off their hair.

Femen has said that Shachko was abducted again during a visit by Putin to Ukraine, and a lawyer for the group said she was beaten and briefly hospitalized.

Femen now has branches on at least four continents.

With reporting by the BBC​</s>Femen, the Ukrainian-founded international women’s movement of topless female activists painted with slogans and crowned with flowers on Tuesday announced the passing away of one of its founders in France.

When Ukrainian media contacted Anna Gutsol, one of Femen's co-founders, she said that Oksana Shachko, 31, had allegedly committed suicide in Paris.

On Femen's blog site, a statement was posted: "RIP.The most fearless and vulnerable Oksana Shachko has left us. We mourn together with her relatives and friends and expect for the official version from the police." The statement added that "yesterday, July 23, Oksana’s body was found in her apartment in Paris."

According to Gutsol's statements to the Ukrainian press, some friends in Paris had tried to contact her for the past three days, after being last seen at a party.

According to Gutsol, they went to her Paris apartment, kicked the door down and found the activist's lifeless body.

Shachko was born in 1987 in the Western Ukranian town of Khmelnytskyi and founded Femen in 2008 with her friends Anna Gutsol and Alexandra Shevchenko.

On May 4, 2012, on the day Russia's presidential elections took place, Shachko was arrested at a Moscow electoral college after staging a Femen action against then Russian presidential candidate, Vladimir Putin.

Soon after she was deported to Ukraine and in 2013 relocated to France and granted political refugee status.

Femen defines its activist tactics as "Sextremism", which they explain as "a fundamentally new form of women’s feminist actionism."

Femen’s slogan is "My body Is my weapon!" and their goal is "Complete victory over patriarchy."</s>Oksana Shachko, a co-founder of the Femen feminist protest movement, has committed suicide in Paris (France).

Femen co-founder Hanna Hutsol announced this on the 112 Ukraine television channel, the Ukrainian News Agency reports.

According to Hutsol, friends found Shachko hanged in her apartment.

"They could not find her for three days. The last time they saw her was at a party, where she left them and did not keep in touch. Last night, they decided to go to her apartment, broke down the door, and found her hung. According to them, there was a note, but we do not yet understand what exactly was written there. Police took the body away in the evening and there are currently no results. Preliminarily - suicide," said Hutsol.

Femen co-founder Oleksandr Shevchenko, earlier media reports stated that Shachko was last seen on Friday, July 20, and that her body was found on July 23. However, the exact date of death is still unknown.

According to Shevchenko, Shachko left a suicide note in English stating, "You are all fake."

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, police officers found a grenade and a pistol during a search of Femen’s office in Kyiv in August 2013.</s>Oksana Shachko, one of the founders of the Femen feminist protest movement, has been found dead in her Paris apartment, the group has said.



The 31-year-old Ukrainian was found on Monday with a suicide note next to her body, according to Femen activists.

“It is with great regret and deep pain that I must confirm the death of Oksana,” said Inna Shevchenko, one of Femen’s leaders, who also lives in the French capital.

Another Femen founder, Anna Gutsol, wrote on Facebook: “RIP. The most fearless and vulnerable Oksana Shachko has left us. We mourn together with her relatives and friends.” She said the group was awaiting “the official version from the police”.

Shachko was one of four feminist activists who founded Femen in Ukraine in 2008. Exiled in France since 2013, she had since left the group and was working as an artist.

Operating under the slogan “I came, I stripped, I won”, Femen quickly drew attention around the world with its bare-breasted demonstrations against sexism.

Their protests also challenged authoritarianism and racism, with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, a particular target, along with France’s far-right Front National party.

But in recent years the group has struggled with internal divisions as well as legal proceedings against its members.

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.
• In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.</s>Femen co-founder and Ukrainian artist Oksana Shachko, 31, was found dead in her Paris apartment on Monday, July 23. The feminist group posted to their blog announcing the news on Tuesday morning.

“RIP. The most fearless and vulnerable Oksana Shachko has left us. We mourn together with her relatives and friends and expect for the official version from the police,” wrote Femen. “At the moment it is known, that yesterday, July 23, Oksana’s body was found in her apartment in Paris.”

Shachko was a founding member of Femen, a feminist activist group known for their controversial, and often topless, political protests across Europe — including interrupting Woody Allen’s jazz-band performance in Germany last year. Shachko was also one of the members of the group that was allegedly kidnapped, forced to strip naked, and beaten by KGB agents in Belarus in 2011.

French authorities have not released an official cause of death, and the Ukrainian embassy confirmed her passing to a Russian-language television network.

In a separate post on the Femen website, Shachko was described as “one of the heroines of our time.” She was remembered as a real fighter, someone who “fought against injustice, fought for equality, fought for herself and for all women as a hero.”

This post will be updated as more information becomes available.</s>Oksana Shachko, one of the founders of the Femen feminist protest movement, has been found dead in her Paris apartment, the group said on Monday.

Activists from Femen, known for its bold topless protests, said the 31-year-old Ukrainian had been found on Monday with a suicide note next to her body.

"It is with great regret and deep pain that I must confirm the death of Oksana," said Inna Shevchenko, one of Femen's leaders, who also lives in the French capital.

Another Femen founder, Anna Gutsol, wrote on Facebook: "RIP. The most fearless and vulnerable Oksana Shachko has left us.

"We mourn together with her relatives and friends," she said, adding that the group was awaiting "the official version from the police".

Shachko was one of four feminist activists who founded Femen in Ukraine in 2008.

Exiled in France since 2013, she had since left the group and was working as an artist.

Operating under the slogan "I came, I stripped, I won," Femen quickly drew attention around the world with its bare-breasted protests against sexism.

Their protests eventually started targeting authoritarianism and racism, with Russia's Vladimir Putin a particular target, alongside France's far-right National Front party.

But in recent years the group has struggled with internal divisions as well as legal proceedings against its members.

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 Belarussian strongman Alexander Lukashenko.

The agents had poured oil over the three women, threatened to set them on fire, and cut off their hair, Femen said.

She was abducted again by unknown assailants during a visit by Putin to Ukraine, according to the group.

Femen's lawyer said Shachko was beaten so badly that she was briefly hospitalised.</s>One of the co-founders of Femen, a Ukrainian feminist and political activist group known for its topless demonstrations, reportedly committed suicide in her Paris apartment on Monday, media reports said.

Fellow Femen activist Inna Shevchenko confirmed the death of Oksana Shachko after social media reports emerged.

Shachko reportedly left a handwritten note saying "You are all fake" before taking her life. Media reports also alleged that she previously tried twice to commit suicide over the past two years.

Founded in 2008, Femen became globally known after organizing topless protests on various issues such as sex tourism, homophobia and religious institutions.

Although it was founded in Ukraine, the activist group is currently based in Paris.</s>KIEV (Reuters) - A founding member of the Ukrainian feminist protest group Femen, Oksana Shachko, has been found dead in her apartment in Paris, Femen said on Tuesday.

“RIP. The most fearless and vulnerable Oksana Shachko has left us. We mourn together with her relatives and friends and expect for the official version from the police. At the moment it is known, that yesterday, July 23, Oksana’s body was found in her apartment in Paris,” it said on its official blog.

Since it was founded in Kiev in 2008, the Femen movement has won notoriety in Europe for its stands - usually topless — against sex tourism, homophobia and religious institutions.</s>Few women outside the genre of pornography have bared their breasts as often and for such good reason as 31-year-old Ukrainian activist Oksana Shachko. As one of the original three founders of the activist group Femen, she has bared her bosom to popes and princes, to Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel to protest policies and ideologies.

Shachko’s body was discovered in her apartment in Paris on Monday, and activist friends and family say they believe she committed suicide. It

was unclear when she died; French police have yet to confirm the details of their investigation. Femen has referred all queries to its official website, which does not state the cause of death.

But friends who knew Shachko well told The Daily Beast that she lived in a labyrinth of painful situations—personal issues, pressure from from her home country and from the reality she found herself in in France—and that she was suffering.

Media reports said Shachko left a note behind, which said in English: “You are fake”—a sentiment she also shared in an Instagram post on Saturday:

The people who loved Shachko were left to analyze and guess what her message meant, and what made Oksana so depressed and disillusioned.

Shachko founded Femen with Anna Hutsol and Sacha Shevchenko in April 2008, when they were just 17 and looking for an outlet for their anger. Rather than joining those in the streets with Molotov cocktails and glass bottles, they used their sexuality in what has since been defined as “sextremism” protests aiming for a “complete victory over the patriarchy.” She was the first to pull off her shirt and show her bare breasts to a crowd during a political action on Ukraine’s Independence Day, Aug. 24, 2009.

The women inspired a global movement of bare-breasted women to write slogans across their chests and put a ring of flowers in their hair to make a point.

During her time with Femen, Shachko was arrested hundreds of times, spent nearly a year in jail, and was allegedly abused by police on several occasions, including one in which she and the other women were reportedly stripped and covered in oil while officers threatened to set them alight. They have been interrogated and investigated and wire-tapped, but they continued to show up at major events, in Vatican City and around the world.

“She must have committed suicide at the last drop of her suffering—she had experience tons; I am not surprised she has done it, her entire life has never been easy, she had layer upon layer of pain,” photographer Dmitry Kostyukov, a friend of Shachko’s, told The Daily Beast.

His wife is the Femen leader Shevchenko. Five years ago, they all moved to Paris to escape political pressure in Ukraine. They had to start a new life, from scratch.

“About a year ago, she, a mature artist, had to enter an art school to re-establish herself in France. That is very hard,” Kostyukov said.

According to Oksana’s Ukrainian friends, who were shocked to learn about her death, she suffered after the breakup with Femen and her constant struggles as an artist, but they believe there was something else, something that they think must have caused even deeper struggles with depression.

“Any artist—and especially in France—lives a life thinking of the emotional, inner world, filling every moment with sense or feeling depressed from finding no sense,” Kostyukov said. After all, she too was a radical artist.

In 2013, Shachko decided to leave Femen, saying she would stay a feminist forever but that “society has killed this movement.”

Even so, she continued to make headlines: According to Le Parisien, her painting of the Virgin Mary in a burqa drew condemnation.

During those years in exile, she tried to take her life twice, according to press reports. “As far as I know, she was concerned that everything was going wrong,” Femen co-founder Hutsol told Radio Free Europe, adding that “unfortunately” the two had not kept in communication since the group split.

A statement from Femen was sad and succinct.

“RIP. The most fearless and vulnerable Oksana Shachko has left us. We mourn together with her relatives and friends and expect for the official version from the police. At the moment it is known, that yesterday, July 23, Oksana’s body was found in her apartment in Paris.”

Friends in Russia, too, were crying over losing Oksana. A few days before news of Shachko’s death, Maria Alyokhina, a leader of Pussy Riot, noticed the cryptic Instagram post. She was not surprised to read the words.

“Her fate was always complex, difficult, long before she committed suicide; when she was a school girl, Shachko wanted to become an icon artist; she always thought of God, of religion; she studied to paint in a monastery, when she was a teenager,” Alyokhina told The Daily Beast on Tuesday. “She must have been lacking action, lacking art activism, which can save anyone from depression, we find solutions in Art.”

“First I saw her ‘You are fake’ note on her Instagram and then I heard that it was the last note she left,” Alyokhina said. “It could be addressed to either one person or all of us.”

If you are having thoughts of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). The line is available 24/7 and provides free and confidential support.</s>The following content is sourced from external partners. We cannot guarantee that it is suitable for the visually or hearing impaired.

This content was published on July 24, 2018 12:24 PM

KIEV (Reuters) - A founding member of the Ukrainian feminist protest group Femen, Oksana Shachko, has been found dead in her apartment in Paris, Femen said on Tuesday. "RIP. The most fearless and vulnerable Oksana Shachko has left us. We mourn together with her relatives and friends and expect for the official version from the police. At the moment it is known, that yesterday, July 23, Oksana’s body was found in her apartment in Paris," it said on its official blog. Since it was founded in Kiev in 2008, the Femen movement has won notoriety in Europe for its stands - usually topless -- against sex tourism, homophobia and religious institutions. Form for signing up for free newsletter. Sign up for our free newsletters and get the top stories delivered to your inbox.
Femen co-founder and activist Oksana Shachko is found dead in her Paris apartment in an apparent suicide. France granted her political refugee status in 2013.