5 ms·

Russian artist and Putin critic shot dead in Poland

152 points by 2OEH8eoCRo0 4mo ago

hootz 4mo ago
Nothing to see here guys, we have already arrested the perpetrators, move along and hail Putin.
tartoran 4mo ago
That's so sad. I just looked up his artwork and it's hilarious. RIP Semyon Skrepetsky
self_awareness 4mo ago
I want to believe. https://vimeo.com/940390507 https://vimeo.com/940390507
wiseowise 4mo ago
[flagged]
- vintermann 4mo ago
  From what I can tell, he's accused strictly of speech crimes against Ukraine? For changing opinion on the war in 2023? So maybe it's not so obvious who killed him after all.
  - shevy-java 4mo ago
    You mean Ukrainians killed him? I am not sure about that. Does not make a whole lot of sense for Ukraine to kill him, since he is so unimportant compared to e. g. russian generals. Whereas if you insult Putin, the midget will of course set his hit men on people. That has been shown numerous times again and again and again. Most famous one is still Litvinenko, but remember how Anna Politkovskaya was killed, Boris Nemtsov, Alexei Navalny, Yevgeny Prigozhin and so on, and so forth. The pattern is so clear really. It sounds more like russian bots trying to engineer the narrative towards "others did it", when all the facts are way too clear. See also Yuri in the 1980s foreseeing how an asset can be manipulated by the KGB: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yErKTVdETpw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yErKTVdETpw - KGB/FSB run Russia. See yesterday how Nikolai Patrushev babbled about bringing war to Europeans.
    - ivan_gammel 4mo ago
      I don‘t think Putin knows anything about him or is even aware of his existence. He’s living in a cloud castle fed by briefings from his administration. It‘s likely that nobody in Moscow cared so much about this poor guy - there exist more annoying and influential people to focus foreign intelligence effort on. But Kadyrov clan is a different story. It‘s getting weaker, its leader has according to some sources serious health problems. Moscow isn‘t keen on seeing another Kadyrov in power in Chechnya. So Chechens are more eager to suppress any attacks on the clan that question its strength and authority.
    - vintermann 4mo ago
      Politkovskaya I think was killed on Kadyrov's orders, not Putin's. Putin and Ukrainian nationalists alike are far more angry at people they think have an obligation to be loyal to them, "traitors", than on random people who offend them.
  - joxdosba 4mo ago
    It’s a war, par for the course to execute people for ”speech crimes” during such times. We executed William Joyce and assassinated many like him, nobody seriously questions the morality of that. They deserved their fates a thousand times over. Not commenting on whether or not this particular individual deserved their fate, but on a more general level.
  - cosmicgadget 4mo ago
    He left a bad review at a hotel in Germany. I think it's safe to say Russia couldn't possibly have done this.
    - vintermann 4mo ago
      Even in this thread there are people calling him a traitor to Ukraine, and he was on the big list of enemies, many of which have been killed before. It doesn't seem so ridiculous to me. Sure, Russia could have done this - particularly Kadyrov's people. But so could Ukrainian nationalists.
      - cosmicgadget 4mo ago
        It's very ridiculous to think Ukraine would assassinate a critic (who has more vocally criticized Putin) on Polish soil.
jasonvorhe 4mo ago
> Semyon Skrepetsky (born Robert Kuzovkov), a native of the Altai region, was known for his caricatures of politicians. He had drawn satirical portraits of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, and the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. According to iStories, Skrepetsky had also criticized Ukrainian authorities and was listed in Ukraine’s Myrotvorets database, which designates individuals accused of crimes against Ukrainian national security. Misleading title.
- deleted 4mo ago
  [deleted]
- self_awareness 4mo ago
  American HN crowd knows better.
- cosmicgadget 4mo ago
  Misleading how?
0x59 4mo ago
headline makes it seem obvious who did it, but he didn't fall out of a window... so I'm going to wait for an investigation before I make up my mind
- littlecranky67 4mo ago
  Russian assassins on foreign soil are also known to shot people during the day in broad daylight, just as [0] did in 2019 in Berlin Tiergarten park. Unfortunately, he was exchanged and is living freely after only a few years in german prison. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vadim_Krasikov https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vadim_Krasikov
  - cubefox 4mo ago
    Prisoners exchanges should be illegal if the crimes are disproportionate as in this case.
    - FpUser 4mo ago
      I think saving one of your own who suffers because of protecting your country should take way more priority over simple vengeance.
      - cubefox 4mo ago
        It's not "simple vengeance". It's deterrence. If you don't punish assassins, assassinations will increase in expectation.
        FpUser 4mo ago
        Bullshit. Who says anything about punishment. They are being punished, then there MAY come a choice. If you are so hell bent on "deterrence" look after presidential pardons. And if you do not save your own spies given a chance, the next one you want to hire will direct you straight to the place where the sun does not shine
hereme888 4mo ago
[flagged]
- shevy-java 4mo ago
  You can say this about numerous things. I fail to see any connection here. So, let's assume he was a bad artist. How does this offset or negate being assassinated by a state? I also fail to see how "provocative insults" are relevant here either. Am I talking to a russian AI bot here?
  - hereme888 4mo ago
    First, you presume the state assassinated him. Second, my first word was "Sad", so there"s no negation for being assassinated by anyone. Third, I don't know how old you are, but I presumed most adults know that critics of Putin are known to mysteriously die.
    - otherme123 4mo ago
      So what is the point in saying you personally don't like his art? I mean: "JFK shoot in the head", your comment "didn't like his shoes anyway".
      - hereme888 4mo ago
        It's not that "I" didn't like his art, because that would be quite inappropriate in the announcement of someone's death. The point is his art made him a high risk target in a country known to assassinate political opponents.
    - hereme888 4mo ago
      What's the point of me saying this? Ya'll are just angry and failing to express the reason for your emotions. The man lived in a country where vocal, public opponents of Putin get murdered. He also offended his country's (and Putin's) religion. He could have painted at least realistic-looking political figures, but chose to represent them in a vile-looking manner. That's bound to piss people off. There's entire articles online saying exactly the same thing I'm saying.
shevy-java 4mo ago
The KGB/FSB mafia is kind of in a state of war with the other european countries. These executions follow a very similar pattern. Two other I can think of are Selimchan Changoschwili in 2019 and Maxim Kusminow in 2024; with regards to the latter, perma-drunk Dmitry Medvedev babbled about "a dog's death to a dog" nonsense. Tie to this the genocide Putin commits presently against Ukrainians. I think there is no real "reasoning" possible with the current regime. It's not just Putin, naturally, but a whole parasitic society sitting and feeding on top of this mafia structure. Naturally a direct war is not really possible due to the mafia having access to nukes, but there has to be a complete shift - the diplomatic axis has to exist (no alternative to that from an objective view) while the military side also has to be strengthened, not only in Ukraine but all countries being close to Russia and the Belarus satellite state. Putin will never change as long as he is still alive. And even when he is gone, I have a slight feeling that it is more likely that one of the mafia group will take over anyway.
- kremlin-bot 4mo ago
  [dead]
- tim333 4mo ago
  >Naturally a direct war is not really possible due to the mafia having access to nukes There is a bit of a war going on just now and the way to get back at Russia is to support Ukraine. Ideally to actually win rather than all the escalation management, Russia mustn't lose wimpery.
kremlin-bot 4mo ago
[dead]
red-iron-pine 4mo ago
as Russia unravels further expect to see more of this
throwaw12 4mo ago
[flagged]
- otherme123 4mo ago
  > haven't heard Russians deliberately sniping kids on a daily basis That would be insane! Kidnapping them en masse in Ukraine, and raise them as russian on the other hand...
  - throwaw12 4mo ago
    [flagged]
    - otherme123 4mo ago
      Equally bad or not as bad? Both can't be at the same time. Also, if those kids are raised as soldiers and then "used" to kill more Ukranians or as cannon fodder, wouldn't that be even worse than killing them in the first place in some ethical view?
      - throwaw12 4mo ago
        Equally bad from a crime perspective, but from the perspective of survivor its not equally bad for them compared to shot kid. Read my other comments, feels like you are trying to steer the conversation to defend Israeli crimes. Also the whole point of my comment was about how biased BBC is, on one side non-proven crime associated with Russians, on the other hand proven crimes not associated with Israelis. And you are trying to tell me that ohh look Russia is bad as well. Was it a question actually? I was clear about pointing to what BBC is doing with its words, not downplaying the criminals actions
- tokai 4mo ago
  Putin did kidnap +10k kids though. I don't understand you people and why it is so important to talk down the attempted genocide against the Ukrainians. Its almost like discord and not justice is the purpurs of your kind of talking points.
everdrive 4mo ago
Putin is uncowed, clearly. It's hard to know what the truth of things is. It's clear he's on his back heels in Ukraine and at home, but perhaps he still holds a strong position.
- INTPenis 4mo ago
  Who knows how these hits happen? Maybe the artist had a green light for a while but they hadn't been able to get a good opportunity. Do they operate like military or gangsters? I have a hard time telling the difference sometimes. Are there mercenaries all over the world willing to kill for money from the various superpowers? Or is it a more direct operation planned and executed in one sequence by intelligence members?
  - everdrive 4mo ago
    I agree with your points, but I would prefer a world where Putin would say "call this off, it's too risky given the enmity we've fostered."
deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]
josefritzishere 4mo ago
There is a Streisand affect at play here. Putin dislikes the criticism but of course far more people will be now exposed to the work of Semyon Skrepetsky via this news cycle.
- cindyllm 4mo ago
  [dead]
NoSalt 4mo ago
No, I'm shocked, I tell ya ... SHOCKED!

152 points by 2OEH8eoCRo0 4mo ago

hootz 4mo ago

Nothing to see here guys, we have already arrested the perpetrators, move along and hail Putin.

tartoran 4mo ago

That's so sad. I just looked up his artwork and it's hilarious. RIP Semyon Skrepetsky

self_awareness 4mo ago

I want to believe. https://vimeo.com/940390507 https://vimeo.com/940390507

wiseowise 4mo ago

[flagged]

vintermann 4mo ago
From what I can tell, he's accused strictly of speech crimes against Ukraine? For changing opinion on the war in 2023? So maybe it's not so obvious who killed him after all.
- shevy-java 4mo ago
  You mean Ukrainians killed him? I am not sure about that. Does not make a whole lot of sense for Ukraine to kill him, since he is so unimportant compared to e. g. russian generals. Whereas if you insult Putin, the midget will of course set his hit men on people. That has been shown numerous times again and again and again. Most famous one is still Litvinenko, but remember how Anna Politkovskaya was killed, Boris Nemtsov, Alexei Navalny, Yevgeny Prigozhin and so on, and so forth. The pattern is so clear really. It sounds more like russian bots trying to engineer the narrative towards "others did it", when all the facts are way too clear. See also Yuri in the 1980s foreseeing how an asset can be manipulated by the KGB: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yErKTVdETpw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yErKTVdETpw - KGB/FSB run Russia. See yesterday how Nikolai Patrushev babbled about bringing war to Europeans.
  - ivan_gammel 4mo ago
    I don‘t think Putin knows anything about him or is even aware of his existence. He’s living in a cloud castle fed by briefings from his administration. It‘s likely that nobody in Moscow cared so much about this poor guy - there exist more annoying and influential people to focus foreign intelligence effort on. But Kadyrov clan is a different story. It‘s getting weaker, its leader has according to some sources serious health problems. Moscow isn‘t keen on seeing another Kadyrov in power in Chechnya. So Chechens are more eager to suppress any attacks on the clan that question its strength and authority.
  - vintermann 4mo ago
    Politkovskaya I think was killed on Kadyrov's orders, not Putin's. Putin and Ukrainian nationalists alike are far more angry at people they think have an obligation to be loyal to them, "traitors", than on random people who offend them.
- joxdosba 4mo ago
  It’s a war, par for the course to execute people for ”speech crimes” during such times. We executed William Joyce and assassinated many like him, nobody seriously questions the morality of that. They deserved their fates a thousand times over. Not commenting on whether or not this particular individual deserved their fate, but on a more general level.
- cosmicgadget 4mo ago
  He left a bad review at a hotel in Germany. I think it's safe to say Russia couldn't possibly have done this.
  - vintermann 4mo ago
    Even in this thread there are people calling him a traitor to Ukraine, and he was on the big list of enemies, many of which have been killed before. It doesn't seem so ridiculous to me. Sure, Russia could have done this - particularly Kadyrov's people. But so could Ukrainian nationalists.
    - cosmicgadget 4mo ago
      It's very ridiculous to think Ukraine would assassinate a critic (who has more vocally criticized Putin) on Polish soil.

jasonvorhe 4mo ago

> Semyon Skrepetsky (born Robert Kuzovkov), a native of the Altai region, was known for his caricatures of politicians. He had drawn satirical portraits of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, and the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. According to iStories, Skrepetsky had also criticized Ukrainian authorities and was listed in Ukraine’s Myrotvorets database, which designates individuals accused of crimes against Ukrainian national security. Misleading title.

deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]
self_awareness 4mo ago
American HN crowd knows better.
cosmicgadget 4mo ago
Misleading how?

0x59 4mo ago

headline makes it seem obvious who did it, but he didn't fall out of a window... so I'm going to wait for an investigation before I make up my mind

littlecranky67 4mo ago
Russian assassins on foreign soil are also known to shot people during the day in broad daylight, just as [0] did in 2019 in Berlin Tiergarten park. Unfortunately, he was exchanged and is living freely after only a few years in german prison. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vadim_Krasikov https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vadim_Krasikov
- cubefox 4mo ago
  Prisoners exchanges should be illegal if the crimes are disproportionate as in this case.
  - FpUser 4mo ago
    I think saving one of your own who suffers because of protecting your country should take way more priority over simple vengeance.
    - cubefox 4mo ago
      It's not "simple vengeance". It's deterrence. If you don't punish assassins, assassinations will increase in expectation.
      - FpUser 4mo ago
        Bullshit. Who says anything about punishment. They are being punished, then there MAY come a choice. If you are so hell bent on "deterrence" look after presidential pardons. And if you do not save your own spies given a chance, the next one you want to hire will direct you straight to the place where the sun does not shine

hereme888 4mo ago

[flagged]

shevy-java 4mo ago
You can say this about numerous things. I fail to see any connection here. So, let's assume he was a bad artist. How does this offset or negate being assassinated by a state? I also fail to see how "provocative insults" are relevant here either. Am I talking to a russian AI bot here?
- hereme888 4mo ago
  First, you presume the state assassinated him. Second, my first word was "Sad", so there"s no negation for being assassinated by anyone. Third, I don't know how old you are, but I presumed most adults know that critics of Putin are known to mysteriously die.
  - otherme123 4mo ago
    So what is the point in saying you personally don't like his art? I mean: "JFK shoot in the head", your comment "didn't like his shoes anyway".
    - hereme888 4mo ago
      It's not that "I" didn't like his art, because that would be quite inappropriate in the announcement of someone's death. The point is his art made him a high risk target in a country known to assassinate political opponents.
  - hereme888 4mo ago
    What's the point of me saying this? Ya'll are just angry and failing to express the reason for your emotions. The man lived in a country where vocal, public opponents of Putin get murdered. He also offended his country's (and Putin's) religion. He could have painted at least realistic-looking political figures, but chose to represent them in a vile-looking manner. That's bound to piss people off. There's entire articles online saying exactly the same thing I'm saying.

shevy-java 4mo ago

The KGB/FSB mafia is kind of in a state of war with the other european countries. These executions follow a very similar pattern. Two other I can think of are Selimchan Changoschwili in 2019 and Maxim Kusminow in 2024; with regards to the latter, perma-drunk Dmitry Medvedev babbled about "a dog's death to a dog" nonsense. Tie to this the genocide Putin commits presently against Ukrainians. I think there is no real "reasoning" possible with the current regime. It's not just Putin, naturally, but a whole parasitic society sitting and feeding on top of this mafia structure. Naturally a direct war is not really possible due to the mafia having access to nukes, but there has to be a complete shift - the diplomatic axis has to exist (no alternative to that from an objective view) while the military side also has to be strengthened, not only in Ukraine but all countries being close to Russia and the Belarus satellite state. Putin will never change as long as he is still alive. And even when he is gone, I have a slight feeling that it is more likely that one of the mafia group will take over anyway.

kremlin-bot 4mo ago
[dead]
tim333 4mo ago
>Naturally a direct war is not really possible due to the mafia having access to nukes There is a bit of a war going on just now and the way to get back at Russia is to support Ukraine. Ideally to actually win rather than all the escalation management, Russia mustn't lose wimpery.

kremlin-bot 4mo ago

[dead]

red-iron-pine 4mo ago

as Russia unravels further expect to see more of this

throwaw12 4mo ago

[flagged]

otherme123 4mo ago
> haven't heard Russians deliberately sniping kids on a daily basis That would be insane! Kidnapping them en masse in Ukraine, and raise them as russian on the other hand...
- throwaw12 4mo ago
  [flagged]
  - otherme123 4mo ago
    Equally bad or not as bad? Both can't be at the same time. Also, if those kids are raised as soldiers and then "used" to kill more Ukranians or as cannon fodder, wouldn't that be even worse than killing them in the first place in some ethical view?
    - throwaw12 4mo ago
      Equally bad from a crime perspective, but from the perspective of survivor its not equally bad for them compared to shot kid. Read my other comments, feels like you are trying to steer the conversation to defend Israeli crimes. Also the whole point of my comment was about how biased BBC is, on one side non-proven crime associated with Russians, on the other hand proven crimes not associated with Israelis. And you are trying to tell me that ohh look Russia is bad as well. Was it a question actually? I was clear about pointing to what BBC is doing with its words, not downplaying the criminals actions
tokai 4mo ago
Putin did kidnap +10k kids though. I don't understand you people and why it is so important to talk down the attempted genocide against the Ukrainians. Its almost like discord and not justice is the purpurs of your kind of talking points.

everdrive 4mo ago

Putin is uncowed, clearly. It's hard to know what the truth of things is. It's clear he's on his back heels in Ukraine and at home, but perhaps he still holds a strong position.

INTPenis 4mo ago
Who knows how these hits happen? Maybe the artist had a green light for a while but they hadn't been able to get a good opportunity. Do they operate like military or gangsters? I have a hard time telling the difference sometimes. Are there mercenaries all over the world willing to kill for money from the various superpowers? Or is it a more direct operation planned and executed in one sequence by intelligence members?
- everdrive 4mo ago
  I agree with your points, but I would prefer a world where Putin would say "call this off, it's too risky given the enmity we've fostered."

deleted 4mo ago

[deleted]

josefritzishere 4mo ago

There is a Streisand affect at play here. Putin dislikes the criticism but of course far more people will be now exposed to the work of Semyon Skrepetsky via this news cycle.

cindyllm 4mo ago
[dead]

NoSalt 4mo ago

No, I'm shocked, I tell ya ... SHOCKED!