The killing of a 44-year-old Russian citizen in Biała Podlaska is becoming one of the most disturbing criminal cases in Poland in recent months. The man was shot dead on Monday morning on Królowej Jadwigi Street. According to investigators, the attacker fired several shots from a handgun, including at close range after the victim had already fallen to the ground. The circumstances of the attack mean that investigators are treating the case not only as a brutal homicide, but also as an incident that may have a broader context.

The victim was a 44-year-old citizen of the Russian Federation living in Biała Podlaska. Publicly, he was known as Siemion, or Simion, Skrepetski — an artist and performer who criticized Vladimir Putin and the Russian system of power. According to media reports, he created caricatures and artistic actions aimed at the Kremlin, and had previously written on social media about threats directed against him.

The killing took place on Monday, June 15, before noon, in a residential area of Biała Podlaska. According to the prosecutor’s office, an unidentified attacker approached the man and fired three shots. When the victim fell, the assailant allegedly moved closer and fired additional shots. An examination of the body revealed five entry wounds and two exit wounds in the upper chest and head. A post-mortem examination was scheduled for Wednesday.

Immediately after the attack, police launched a manhunt. Roadblocks were set up on roads leading out of Biała Podlaska, though they were later removed. By decision of the Lublin Provincial Police Commander, a special investigative team was established. Police appealed to drivers who were travelling in the area on Monday morning between 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. in vehicles equipped with dashboard cameras to provide any recordings.

A new development in the case is the detention of two Belarusian citizens near the Belarusian consulate in Biała Podlaska. The prosecutor’s office has stressed that their possible connection to the incident is still the subject of intensive investigation. At this stage, neither of the detained men has been charged. Media outlets have also reported that several people in total have been detained in connection with the case, and their roles are being clarified.

The investigation has been opened as a homicide involving the use of a firearm. The case is expected to be transferred from the District Prosecutor’s Office in Biała Podlaska to the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Lublin. Poland’s Internal Security Agency, the ABW, has also become involved in the proceedings. This is significant because the ABW usually joins cases that may concern state security, the activity of foreign services, or threats extending beyond a local criminal matter.

Investigators have not yet determined the motive for the killing. However, media speculation has raised the question of whether the death of the Russian artist may have been connected to his anti-Putin activity. The nature of the attack — several shots, including from close range — has been described by sources familiar with the case as resembling an execution. Such a description, however, does not yet amount to an official finding of motive or identification of those who may have ordered the killing.

The case is particularly sensitive because Poland has for years served as a place of refuge for opponents of the regimes in Russia and Belarus. Following Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the wave of repression in Belarus, many activists, journalists, artists and opposition figures have come to Poland. The killing of a person who publicly criticized the Kremlin may therefore raise questions about the safety of political émigrés and people involved in anti-regime activity.

At this stage, however, the key task is to establish the facts: who the direct perpetrator was, whether he acted alone or had accomplices, what the motive was, and whether the killing was criminal, personal or political in nature. The answers to these questions will matter not only for the investigation itself, but also for assessing the security of people who have fled to Poland from repression by authoritarian regimes.