WARSAW, Poland — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has publicly stated that the fatal shooting of a Russian artist critical of the Kremlin’s leadership in eastern Poland bears all the markings of a coordinated political assassination, as international law enforcement continues a sprawling investigation into the killing.
The victim, Robert Kuzovkov, who worked under the pseudonym Semyon Skrepetsky, was gunned down at close range near his residence in the eastern Polish city of Biala Podlaska early Monday morning, regional prosecutors confirmed in an official statement released Tuesday.
Speaking at a press briefing in Warsaw Wednesday, Tusk laid out preliminary findings that point toward a politically motivated killing. “Everything points to this being a political murder,” Tusk told reporters. “But we must wait for concrete evidence and more definitive indications. Because if that proves to be the case — if the killing was ordered by Russia — then it is an extremely serious matter from an international perspective. It would constitute an act of state terrorism.”
Polish law enforcement initially detained two Belarusian citizens shortly after the shooting as persons of interest, but Tusk confirmed Tuesday that both have been released, as investigators found no evidence tying them directly to the crime. Tusk emphasized that the investigation remains in its active evidence-gathering phase, noting that the complexity of the case has slowed progress. “The case is difficult. If a hired killer is involved, identifying that person is unfortunately not an easy task,” he added. In a revealing detail, the prime minister confirmed that Polish security authorities had previously offered Skrepetsky protection over concerns for his safety, an offer the artist ultimately declined.
Polish prosecutors laid out the context for the killing in their Tuesday statement, confirming that through his artistic work, Skrepetsky consistently and publicly expressed sharp criticism of the current policies of the Russian government. The artist, who fled Russia for exile in Poland, became known for his unflattering portraits of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, and other senior Russian political figures. One of his most provocative works depicts Putin being held in the arms of former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
Just one day before his death, on Sunday, Skrepetsky published a new video to his YouTube channel showing a protest he carried out in Berlin on June 12 — Russia’s annual Sovereignty Day holiday — where he placed a Russian national flag into a public trash can.
Prosecutors detailed the sequence of the attack: at approximately 9:45 a.m. Monday, an unidentified male suspect approached Skrepetsky near his home, fired two shots, then moved in to fire three additional rounds at close range before fleeing the scene. Skrepetsky died instantly from multiple gunshot wounds to the head, chest, and back.
The killing comes amid a growing pattern of alleged targeted attacks against Russian government opponents exiled in Europe, dating back to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. To date, Russia has been repeatedly accused of orchestrating assassination attempts against dissidents and anti-Kremlin activists across the continent, including targeted plots against exiled opponents living in France and Lithuania.
In recent months, European security officials have uncovered multiple high-profile plots linked to Russian operatives. German authorities recently broke up planned assassination attempts targeting the head of a German weapons manufacturer that supplies arms to Ukraine, as well as a senior Ukrainian military official. Earlier this year, Polish law enforcement arrested a suspect in what authorities confirmed was a plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a visit to the country. In 2024, a defected Russian military helicopter pilot was also killed in a targeted attack in Spain, with Russian intelligence operatives named as the primary suspects in that killing.