A Russian artist who regularly mocked Vladimir Putin and his cronies has been shot dead in Poland in what is believed to have been an execution.
Exiled Semyon Skrepetsky, 44, real name Robert Kuzovkov, was known for portraying the Kremlin leader as an absurd, bloodthirsty dictator.
The anti-Putin activist was gunned down in the eastern Polish city of Biała Podlaska, near the border with Belarus, soon after receiving a warning from ‘Russian patriots’.
Local media reported that the alleged gunman approached Kuzovkov and shot him at close range.
Medics were unable to save his life despite ‘immediate resuscitation efforts’.
Polish police have since launched a manhunt for the killer amid suspicions he was killed for daring to lampoon Putin and his supporters.