An exiled Russian artist has been shot dead in Poland days after he carried out a one-man protest against Vladimir Putin, featuring a caricature of the Russian President as a baby held by the Soviet-era dictator Joseph Stalin.
44-year-old Robert Kuzovkov, also known under the pseudonym Semyon Skrepetsky, was shot five times, including once to the head on Monday, in the eastern Polish town of Biala Podlaska close to the Belarusian border.
Two Belarusians have been detained, but not charged, in connection with the case, according to a spokesperson for the District Prosecutor in Lublin, who spoke at a press briefing on Tuesday.
Three days before he was killed, Kuzovkov had travelled to Berlin for Russia Day on 12 June. While there, he staged a protest in which he put a Russian flag bearing the country’s coat of arms in a bin and stood in front of a caricature depicting Putin as a baby clutched by Stalin.
Kuzovkov moved to Poland in 2021, he had said, in order to avoid political persecution in Russia.
Kuzovkov was gunned down around 10:00 local time (08:00 GMT), approximately 500 meters from the Belarusian Consulate in Biala Podlaska, according to local media.
An unverified video circulated on social media shows a man being arrested outside the Consulate. Belarusian opposition Telegram channel DzikMedia said the man tried to jump over the consulate’s fence, citing eyewitnesses.
According to NEXTA Live, a Belarusian Russian-language media outlet based in Poland, a taxi driver was detained by police on Wednesday near the Belarusian consulate.
Poland says its role as a hub for military and other supplies to Ukraine has made it a target for Russian spies.
The Russian Embassy in Warsaw was not immediately available for comment. However, a spokesman for Poland's Special Services Minister said that the Internal Security Agency had been cooperating closely with police and prosecutors on the matter.
Kuzovkov was known for his satirical portraits of a range of politicians including Vladimir Putin, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
He also criticised the Ukrainian government - his address and other personal details appear on the Myrotvorets website, a Ukrainian portal which publishes details of people it considers to be enemies of Kyiv.
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