Polish police have arrested a suspect in the fatal shooting of an exiled Russian artist and Kremlin critic, four days after the attack, authorities said on Thursday.
Investigators are still examining whether anyone assisted the suspect in planning the killing or helping him flee, a spokesman for police in the eastern Lublin region said.
"At the moment, however, everything indicates that the man acted alone in carrying out this attack," police spokesman Andrzej Fijolek was quoted as saying by the PAP news agency.
The victim, a Russian performance artist and caricaturist known by the pseudonym Semyon Skrepezki, was shot five times on a street in the eastern Polish town of Biała Podlaska on Monday.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that much pointed to a politically motivated killing, although further evidence was still needed.
If Russia was involved, it would be a case of "state terrorism," Tusk said.
The case has highlighted concerns that threats linked to Russia's war against Ukraine and broader Russian aggression are increasingly affecting the NATO and EU member state.
Police and counter-terrorism officers arrested the suspected gunman at a hostel in the town of Piastów near Warsaw.
The suspect has a criminal record, PAP quoted Poland's intelligence coordinator Tomasz Siemoniak as saying. Investigators are closely examining possible involvement by foreign intelligence services or states, he added.
"It is a known practice of foreign services to recruit criminals for various operations," Siemoniak said.
The man's identity remains unclear.
"The arrested man was using a passport issued to a 36-year-old Georgian citizen," Lublin police said in a statement.
"We are still verifying his identity, but it is highly likely that he is in fact a Georgian citizen," Fijolek later said.
Radio station RMF reported indications that the passport may have been forged. The suspect could be a Chechen, according to the broadcaster.
Skrepezki, 44, was known for caricatures of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and other powerful figures. As recently as last week, he took part in a protest against Russia's war in Ukraine outside the Russian Embassy in Berlin.
The Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov was also a frequent target of Skrepezki's satire. There is strong evidence that Kadyrov's opponents have been pursued not only in Russia but also abroad.
Before the arrest in Piastów, two Belarusian men were temporarily detained in connection with the killing. They were later released after investigators found no evidence linking them to the crime.
Both the Polish police and the domestic intelligence service had offered Skrepetsky protection, but he had declined it for unknown reasons, Tusk said.
