Russian Kremlin critic Siemion Skrepetski shot dead in broad daylight in eastern Poland, two Belarusians detained
Siemion Skrepetski, a 44-year-old Russian performance artist who openly ridiculed Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin, was gunned down on a pavement in Biała Podlaska on 15 June. Investigators say the attack bore the hallmarks of an execution, days after his latest anti-Kremlin stunt in Berlin.
The attack on Królowej Jadwigi
Skrepetski was walking his dog shortly before 10:00 on Monday when a man stepped out of a slowly moving Kia, approached him and fired three shots from a pistol at close range. After the victim collapsed, the assailant walked up and fired two more rounds into his head. A witness told Fakt: ‘I saw him walk up to him and start shooting. It was an execution.’ Police recovered five 9 mm Luger GEC casings at the scene and later listed five entry wounds and two exit wounds, located in the chest and head.
The conclusions probably speak for themselves, but I am obliged to rely on facts, not on speculation.
A performer who mocked the Kremlin
Born in 1981 in Russia’s Altai Krai, the artist used the pseudonym Siemion Skrepetski (his legal name was Robert K.). His satirical portraits targeted Putin, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov and the late opposition figure Alexei Navalny. He left Russia in 2021 and settled in Poland. On 12 June, according to Die Zeit, he staged a performance along Berlin’s Unter den Linden, carrying a painting of Joseph Stalin holding an infant Putin before the Russian embassy and later throwing a Russian flag into a bin. He posted footage of the action to social media days before his death.
Skrepetski walked along Unter den Linden to the Russian embassy carrying a picture of Stalin with Putin as a baby.
The manhunt and the Belarusian connection
Within hours of the shooting, officers detained two Belarusian nationals, aged 33 and 37, near the Belarusian consulate in Biała Podlaska. Lublin District Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Marcin Kozak said their possible involvement was being ‘intensively verified’, but no charges had been filed by Tuesday afternoon. The actual shooter is still at large; police lifted roadblocks on the city’s exit roads but urged drivers who passed through the area between 8:30 and 10:30 on 15 June to submit dashcam footage. A special investigation team has been formed by the provincial police commander.
We are still searching for the man who committed this crime. I think residents have nothing to fear – the only thing the potential perpetrator is interested in right now is escape.
Political undertones and the ABW role
Multiple outlets report that Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) has joined the investigation. Sources cited by Rzeczpospolita suggest the murder may have been commissioned and carried out by individuals linked to the Kadyrovtsy – Chechen loyalists tied to the Russian regime. Skrepetski had publicly shared death threats on his social media accounts. Former defence minister Mariusz Błaszczak, now a PiS vice-chairman, criticised the government on wPolityce.pl: ‘Again we are dealing with a situation where thugs arrive, commit a murder – everything points to a political motive – and then vanish.’ The case has been transferred from the local prosecutor’s office to the Lublin District Prosecutor’s Office, and an autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday.
- Skrepetski stages an anti-Kremlin performance in Berlin, walking to the Russian embassy with a painting of Stalin holding an infant Putin.
- Gunman shoots Skrepetski five times at close range on Królowej Jadwigi Street in Biała Podlaska; victim dies at the scene.
- Two Belarusian citizens are detained near the Belarusian consulate in Biała Podlaska.
- Prosecutor reveals five entry wounds and 9 mm ammunition; Lublin District Prosecutor's Office takes over the case; special police task force formed.
