Russian Caricaturist, Putin Critic Shot Dead in Poland
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Russian artist, caricaturist, and frequent President Vladimir Putin critic Semyon Skrepetsky (real name was Robert Kuzovkov), was shot dead yesterday in Polish city of Biała Podlaska. The shooting is described at close range. Polish police believe the killing was a targeted, but have not offered a motive.
Three days prior to the killing, Semyon had protested in front of the Russian Embassy in Berlin. From The Insider:
On June 12, Russia Day, Skrepetsky staged what turned out to be his final performance. Outside the Russian Embassy in Berlin, he pulled a Russian flag from a slit in the back of his pants and threw it into a trash bin. He then walked near the embassy with a painting showing Stalin holding an infant Putin. Skrepetsky wore bast shoes (traditional Russian peasant footwear made of woven bark), an ushanka fur hat, and an orange-and-black St. George’s ribbon (a Russian military symbol that has become associated with pro-Kremlin support for the war against Ukraine).
Der Spiegel reports that there were likely two perpetrators. One suspect was arrested in Biała Podlaska. Meduza, an independent Russian media outlet, reports that the arrested individual may not have been the shooter, but a taxi driver that unfortunately just transported the assassin(s).
Unofficial reports suggest several people may have been involved in the killing. One was detained outside the Belarusian consulate general in Biała Podlaska after attempting and failing to climb the fence onto the consulate grounds. The Belarusian opposition Telegram channel DzikMedia, citing its sources, identified the man as a Belarusian taxi driver who had transported the people believed to have carried out the killing from Warsaw. He reportedly had no knowledge of their plans.
Semyon had been living in Poland since 2021. He had fled Russian to avoid arrest and was granted asylum in Poland, according to the BBC.
Video from The New York Post
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