Russian Satirist Robert Kuzovkov Shot Dead in Poland

Overview

• Polish prosecutors identified the victim as 44-year-old Robert Kuzovkov, known as Semyon Skrepetsky, and said he was hit by five shots including one to the head in a Biala Podlaska parking lot.
• Investigators say an unknown shooter fired two initial shots and then approached the fallen man to fire three more rounds before fleeing, and police recovered five cartridge cases and a 9 mm projectile from the scene.
• Two Belarusian nationals were detained by Polish authorities in connection with the case but have not been formally charged and remain at the disposal of prosecutors and police.
• Officials from the District Prosecutor’s Office of Lublin and the Internal Security Agency are leading the inquiry and have scheduled an autopsy and ballistic analysis to determine the sequence of events and any external links to the killing.
• Polish officials stress the case raises wider security concerns because Poland hosts many Russian and Belarusian exiles and serves as a logistics hub for Ukraine, increasing the risk of espionage or hostile operations against dissidents abroad.