June 18, 2026, 1:09 p.mJune 18, 2026, 1:09 p.m
According to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a suspect has been arrested after the fatal shooting of an exiled Russian artist in Poland.
The Russian exiled artist Semyon Skrepetsky was killed in Poland.Image: AP
The man with a Georgian passport may have been involved in the crime, Tusk told the PAP news agency in Warsaw. The arrest was made by the Lublin Voivodeship Police and the Polish domestic secret service ABW.
The Lublin police officially said the attack took place near Warsaw. The authorities did not specify the man’s identity: “The arrested person used a passport issued to a 36-year-old citizen of Georgia,” it said. The RMF radio station reported that anti-terror forces were deployed during the arrest in a workers’ dormitory in Piastow. There are indications that the arrested man’s passport was forged. The man could be a Chechen.
Tusk sees possible case of state terrorism
The Russian performance artist and cartoonist with the pseudonym Semjon Skrepezki was killed with five shots on the street in the eastern Polish town of Biala Podlaska on Monday. Tusk said on Wednesday that there was a lot of evidence pointing to a political murder, even if one still had to wait for more detailed evidence. If Russia had a hand in it, it would be a case of state terrorism, he said.
Two men from Belarus were temporarily arrested because of the crime. But they were released because there was no evidence of involvement. (dab/sda/dpa)