Semyon Skrepetsky, a 44-year-old exiled Russian artist and dissident, was shot and killed in the eastern Polish town of Biała Podlaska. Skrepetsky was known for creating audacious and scathing caricatures of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
Lublin police have arrested a suspect in the fatal shooting. Despite the apprehension, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that investigators are still seeking the mastermind behind the attack.
Prime Minister Tusk said the killing looks like a political assassination. He added that if the act was ordered by Russia, it represents an extremely serious matter internationally.
Since the launch of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has been accused of targeting exiled activists and attempting to assassinate its opponents abroad, including in Lithuania and France.