A Russian artist who was critical of Putin is killed near his home in Poland

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WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A 44-year-old Russian artist who has been critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin was shot and killed at close range near his home in the eastern Polish city of Biala Podlaska, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Two Belarusian citizens, aged 37 and 33, were arrested near the Belarusian Consulate after the killing on Monday, they said.

Polish media identified the victim as Robert Kuzovkov, while prosecutors named him only as Robert K., in accordance with Polish privacy laws. They said he was an artist who used the pseudonym Semyon Skrepetsky.

Through his art, he "expressed criticism of the current policies of the Russian authorities,” the prosecutors said in a statement.

He painted unflattering portraits of Putin, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and other high-ranking Russian officials. One depicts Putin being cradled in the arms of the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

On Sunday, he had posted a video on his YouTube channel showing him in Berlin putting a Russian flag in a trash can on June 12, the holiday marking Russia's sovereignty.

Prosecutors said the artist was approached near his home around 9:45 a.m. by an unidentified man who fired two shots at him, then shot him three more times at close range before fleeing. Prosecutors said the victim died at the scene of gunshot wounds to the head, chest and back.

Polish prosecutors have not attributed the slaying to Moscow and Poland's Internal Security Agency did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Since it invaded Ukraine in 2022, Russia has been accused of trying to assassinate its opponents abroad, including targeting exiled activists in France and Lithuania.

Officials in Germany have also broken up plots targeting the head of a German weapons supplier to Ukraine and a Ukrainian military official.

Polish authorities arrested a man in 2024 in what they said was a plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. That same year, a Russian helicopter pilot who defected was killed in Spain, with Russian operatives as the prime suspects.

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Burrows reported from London.