Exiled Russian artist known for anti-Putin cartoons shot dead in Poland

Russian dissident Semyon Skrepetsky protests at the Giardini, at the entrance to the Venice Biennale on May 6 in Venice, Italy. (Stefano Mazzola/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

A Russian artist best known for his unflattering caricatures of President Vladimir Putin was shot dead in Poland, prosecutors said Tuesday, adding that two Belarusian men were arrested in connection with the killing.

Semyon Skrepetsky, 44, was killed in a suspected execution on Monday morning in a parking lot near his home in Biała Podlaska, a town that sits near Poland’s border with Belarus, the Polish Prosecutor’s District Office in Lublin said in a statement.

Skrepetsky, whose real name was Robert Kuzovkov, had lived in Poland since 2021, when he escaped Russia in fear that he may be arrested for his activism.

“According to current information, the 44-year-old was approached by an unidentified man who fired two shots at him with a handgun. After the victim fell to the ground, the perpetrator approached, fired three more shots, and then quickly fled the scene,” Marcin Kozak, the prosecutors’ office spokesman said. Skrepetsky was shot in the head and chest, and died at the scene, Kozak added.

A manhunt was launched immediately after the shooting and police detained two Belarusian citizens, aged 37 and 33, near the Belarusian Consulate in Biała Podlaska, Kozak said. “Their roles in the incident are being investigated,” the statement said.

Skrepetsky was a prolific painter and a critic of Putin and his regime as well as other Russian officials. His psychedelic paintings, sometimes painted in the style of Russian Orthodox icons, often depicted Putin with a bovine nose or hugging pigs.

He also often painted Putin alongside other Russian officials, world leaders and other power brokers, including US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Xinping, the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, the Soviet leader Stalin and even Elon Musk.

Apart from being staunchly anti-Putin, Skerpetsky was also critical of some parts of the Russian opposition, including the late activist Alexei Navalny whom he blamed for “destroying the entire Russian opposition.”

Skerpetsky was initially seen as very pro-Ukrainian, having publicly burnt his Russian passport just after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukriane in 2022. However, he had grown more critical of Ukrainian leadership in the years since.

By Ivana Kottasová, CNN