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 confirmed Shachko's death to RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on July 24, 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.

A post on FEMEN website read: “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.”

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 now has branches on at least four continents.