‘Everything indicates’ murder of Russian dissident artist in Poland was a political killing

Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said on 17 June that “everything indicates” the 15 June killing of Russian dissident artist Robert Kuzovkov—who worked under the pseudonym Semyon Skrepetsky—was a political assassination, though he said investigators must await firm evidence. Kuzovkov, 44 and a father of five, was shot three times in daylight in Biala Podlaska, where he had lived since moving to Poland in 2021. He was known for grotesque caricatures targeting figures including Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Putin, Ramzan Kadyrov, Alexander Lukashenko, Alexei Navalny (who died in prison in 2024), and Volodymyr Zelensky, and he posted frequently on Telegram under “Semyon Skrepetsky’s Picture Gallery.” On 14 June he posted images protesting at the Russian embassy in Berlin, and his final post on 15 June showed threats against him, including one stating it would be a “six-second operation” to find him. Two Belarusian men detained after the murder were released, and Polish media reported he had previously declined a protection offer from Poland’s Internal Security Agency.

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