Arrest in connection with murder of Russian artist in Poland
Polish police have detained a man suspected of involvement in the killing of Russian artist Semion Skripecki, known for political caricatures.
Arrest in connection with murder of Russian artist in Poland
Polish police have detained a man suspected of involvement in the killing of Russian artist Semion Skripecki, known for political caricatures — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Thursday on the X platform, according to PMO.ee.
The detained man is in possession of a Georgian passport. Authorities are working to identify the organiser of the killing, which took place on Monday morning in Białą Podlaska in eastern Poland. According to accounts, an unidentified perpetrator armed with a pistol shot Skripecki three times. When the artist fell to the ground, the assailant fired two more shots at close range.
Prime Minister Tusk characterised the killing of the Russian citizen as a "political murder". He added that if the instigator is Russia, the matter takes on a "very serious international dimension". The Polish government had previously offered Skripecki protection, which the artist declined.
In connection with the artist's death, two Belarusian citizens were initially detained, but they were later released. The investigation into the murder is ongoing.
Semion Skripecki, whose real name was Robert Kużowkov, was born in 1981 and lived in the Altai region until 2021, when he emigrated to Poland due to political persecution. The artist created caricatures of Russian and Belarusian dictator Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and his son Adam, Moscow Patriarch Kirill, Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, and former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
Skripecki also criticised Ukrainian authorities and was included in the Ukrainian online database "Myrotvorets", which collects information on individuals considered by its creators to be a threat to state security, territorial integrity, or Ukrainian sovereignty. One of the artist's most recent actions was a picket in Berlin on 12 June, on the day of the Russian state holiday, during which he presented a caricature depicting Stalin and Putin in the style of an icon.
Source: Apollo