Russian cartoonist known for anti-Putin caricatures shot dead in Poland

Robert Kuzovkov, the Russian artist and cartoonist who used the pseudonym Semyon Skrepetsky, was shot dead in Biała Podlaska, a city in eastern Poland about 40 kilometers from the Belarusian border. Police and prosecutors said two Belarusians were detained in connection with the case, and investigators were treating the killing as potentially execution-style.

Kuzovkov, 44, had built an online reputation through caricatures of Vladimir Putin and other powerful figures, including Alexander Lukashenko, Ramzan Kadyrov and Alexei Navalny. His satire pushed far beyond a single target, making him a recognizable voice among Russian political exiles who used art to mock the Kremlin and its allies.

He left Russia in 2021, saying he feared political persecution, and later received refugee status in Poland. That background has intensified concern around his death, because he had already crossed one border in search of protection and was killed in a region that sits close to Belarus, one of Moscow’s closest security partners.

Marcin Kozak said at a press briefing that five shots were fired, including one to the head. One report placed the attack in a parking lot near the city center; others described the shooting as happening close to the center of Biała Podlaska. The discrepancy has not softened the central fact: a prominent political caricaturist was killed in what Polish authorities are now examining as a deliberate attack.

The case comes three days after an anti-Putin protest in Berlin, adding to the sense among Russian dissidents that distance from Russia does not always mean safety. Some reports said Kuzovkov had also criticized Ukrainian authorities and had been listed in Ukraine’s Myrotvorets database, underscoring how polarizing his public activity had become.

For Russian critics, artists and activists who have settled across Europe, the killing is a reminder of the limits of refuge. Poland has been a destination for exiles fleeing pressure at home, but Kuzovkov’s death shows how quickly political conflict can follow them beyond Russia’s borders.