Poland arrests Russian citizen over alleged assassination plot against Ukrainian rapper Kyivstoner

Poland has arrested a Russian citizen accused of planning to assassinate Ukrainian rapper Kyivstoner, Polish broadcaster RMF FM reported on Thursday.

The suspect, originally from Ukraine's Donbas region, has been charged with planning an assassination attempt. A court has remanded him in custody for three months, according to RMF FM.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the arrest a day earlier, saying a suspect had been recruited by Russian intelligence services to target someone “inconvenient for Putin’s regime”. Tusk did not name the intended victim, but Polish media reported that the target was an artist of Ukrainian origin holding a U.S. passport.

The case follows a claim by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) last month that it had foiled a drone attack on a military facility outside Moscow. The FSB alleged that two Moldovan nationals and Kyivstoner were involved in organising the attack. The rapper, whose real name is Albert Vasilyev, has categorically denied any involvement.

Days after the FSB’s statement, Sergey Zenin, a correspondent for state broadcaster VGTRK, said on live TV that killing Kyivstoner would be “a matter of honour for our intelligence services”.