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Suspect Using Georgian Passport Detained in Killing of Russian Satirist in Poland
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday that a suspect has been detained in connection with the murder of Russian anti-Kremlin artist Robert Kuzovkov, who was shot dead in Poland last week.
Kuzovkov, known by the pseudonym Semyon Skrepetsky, was killed by an unidentified gunman in the early hours of June 15 in Biala Podlaska, a small town near the Polish-Belarusian border where he had been living under asylum since 2021. He was widely known for his caricatures mocking Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenka.
Tusk announced the arrest on X, saying the suspect was apprehended by police in Lublin and the Polish Internal Security Agency, known by its Polish acronym ABW. "The detained person is using a Georgian passport," he wrote, adding that investigators are working to identify whoever ordered the killing.
Polish authorities had initially detained two Belarusian nationals in connection with the case, but released them after finding no evidence linking them to the crime.
Russian-Controlled Court Sentences Georgian Fighter to 14 Years for Fighting in Ukraine
A court operating under Russian-occupied Donetsk has sentenced Georgian fighter Mirza Vanadze to 14 years in a maximum-security penal colony for fighting alongside Ukrainian forces, Russian state media reported on June 17.
The verdict was handed down in absentia by what Russia calls the "supreme court" of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. Citing Russia's investigative committee, state outlet RIA Novosti reported that Vanadze arrived in Ukraine in 2022, joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces, received weapons and equipment, and took part in combat operations against Russian forces and Moscow-backed armed formations in occupied Ukrainian territory.
Vanadze has been placed on an international wanted list, according to the report.
The ruling follows a pattern of similar sentences issued in absentia against Georgian nationals who joined Ukraine's defense after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Russian-backed authorities in occupied Donetsk have previously handed down comparable verdicts against several other Georgian fighters.
