A Russian artist who mocked Vladimir Putin with savage caricatures has been shot dead in an execution-style killing in eastern Poland, just days after receiving threats from pro-Russian activists.
Semyon Skrepetsky, the pseudonym of 44-year-old Robert Kuzovkov, was gunned down on Monday morning in a car park in Biała Podlaska, a city about 40km from the Belarusian border – and only 600 metres from the Belarusian consulate.
“Russian artist Robert Kuzovkov, known as Semyon Skrepetsky, shot dead in Poland after receiving threats.”
Prosecutors said the artist was approached by an unidentified gunman who fired two shots at him. "When the victim fell to the ground, the perpetrator approached, fired three more shots and then quickly fled the scene. Robert K died at the scene," said Marcin Kozak, spokesman for the District Prosecutor's Office in Lublin.
Five shell casings and one Geco 9mm Luger bullet were recovered from the crime scene. An autopsy has been scheduled for Wednesday.
Police detained two Belarusian citizens, aged 33 and 37, near the consulate shortly after the killing. Their role in the incident was still being determined, Kozak said. A taxi driver who may have driven the suspects from Warsaw was also being questioned.
Skrepetsky was known for his caricatures of political figures including Putin, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. In one satirical artwork, he portrayed Putin as a cruel tyrant with blood on his hands.
The artist had moved to Biała Podlaska in 2021 after being forced into exile. Three days before the shooting, he staged a protest outside the Russian embassy in Berlin on 12 June, carrying a painting caricaturing Putin and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Video posted on social media showed him dragging a Russian flag tied to his trousers along the road.
Before his death, Skrepetsky said he had received threats of rape from so-called 'Russian patriots'. The opposition channel Nexta Live, based in Poland, said: "This murder is 100% an order from Russia."
Police spokesman Andrzej Fijołek said officers were treating the murder as a planned assassination and that the killer may have changed clothes.
"The victim engaged in public artistic activities and used among other things, the pseudonym Semyon Skrepetsky, under which he expressed criticism of the current policies of the Russian Federation authorities," Kozak said.
The shooting carries hallmarks of political executions in Russia, where critics of the Kremlin have been silenced abroad.