©picture alliance / TheKremlinMoscow-SvenSimon | The Kremlin Moscow
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk suspects that the murder of Russian cartoonist and Kremlin critic Semyon Skrepetsky was politically motivated. “Everything points to a political assasination, but we’ll have to wait and see if concrete evidence is found,” he said.
A Russian artist and outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin was shot dead on Monday in eastern Poland. The 44-year-old man, believed to be Semyon Skrepetsky, was the victim of a targeted attack in the city of Biała Podlaska, about 35 kilometers from the border with Belarus.
Polish police indicated that the circumstances point to a premeditated murder. “If someone approaches a specific person on the street and fires shots, everything points to a premeditated murder,” police spokesperson Andrzej Fijołek told Meduza. The motive of the fugitive shooter is not yet clear, but there is a possibility that the killing was carried out on the Kremlin’s orders. Although the police have not officially disclosed the victim’s identity, Russian media in exile, such as Meduza, and Polish media have identified him as Semyon Skrepetsky.
Russian Artist Semyon Skrepetsky Victim of Targeted Attack
Skrepetsky, born Robert Kuzovkov in Russia’s Altai region, was known for his satirical depictions of Putin, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. He had been living in exile in Poland since 2021, after fleeing Russia due to the threat of political persecution.
Three days before his death, on June 12—Russia’s national holiday—Skrepetsky traveled to Berlin, where he staged a one-man protest holding a caricature of Stalin and Putin. His most recent social media posts indicated he was in Poland.
The apparent execution occurred after first aid responders were unable to save Skrepetsky. He was shot multiple times at close range in a parking lot outside a local apartment complex. After the murder, police closed roads and exits leading out of the city and placed schools and daycare centers—where the victim’s children might have been—under guard.
One of the two suspected killers, possibly a Belarusian, was arrested near the Belarusian consulate in Biała Podlaska, but Polish media later refuted this claim.
If it turns out that the murder was indeed carried out on Russia’s orders, Tusk says it would constitute a serious incident with international implications. “That is state terrorism,” the Polish prime minister told the PAP news agency.
The Polish police and the domestic intelligence service had offered Skrepetsky protection, but the cartoonist had refused it for reasons that remain unknown.
©picture alliance / TheKremlinMoscow-SvenSimon | The Kremlin Moscow