Poland detains second suspect in murder of Russian artist and Putin critic Semyon Skrepetsky

Officers from Poland’s Internal Security Agency have detained a 22-year-old Georgian citizen in connection with the murder of Russian performance artist Semyon Skrepetsky, said Tomasz Siemoniak, the coordinator of Poland’s intelligence services.

RMF24 identified the man as Makhmud A. The outlet reported that he helped the suspected killer, who had been detained earlier, by keeping Skrepetsky’s home under surveillance and gathering information about his habits.

Makhmud A. arrived in Poland the day before he was detained and was traveling with two other Georgian citizens. The other two were expelled from the country, RMF24 reported.

Makhmud A. was charged with aiding and abetting murder and illegally possessing weapons and ammunition. He denied the charges.

Russian performance artist Semyon Skrepetsky was killed on June 15 in the Polish city of Biała Podlaska. The first suspect in his murder was detained near Warsaw on June 18. Police said he “was using a passport issued in the name of a 36-year-old Georgian citizen.”

Skrepetsky was known for his caricatures of figures including Vladimir Putin and Ramzan Kadyrov. He moved to Poland in 2021, fearing persecution. On June 12 — three days before his murder — he staged a protest outside the Russian Embassy in Berlin. He brought a painting depicting Putin in Stalin’s arms to the embassy. After the protest, Skrepetsky received threats, which he wrote about on his Telegram channel on the day he was killed.

Further reading

• ‘A political execution’: Russian satirist Semyon Skrepetsky mocked Putin and Kadyrov in his caricatures. He was shot dead in Poland three days after an anti-Putin protest in Berlin.

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