British intelligence officers have been dispatched to Poland to assist in the investigation of the assassination of a prominent Russian opposition figure, an attack that has deepened concerns about the Kremlin’s willingness to conduct lethal operations on European soil. The victim, identified as Alexei Petrov, a former aide to the late Boris Nemtsov and an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, was gunned down outside his apartment in Warsaw on Tuesday evening. Polish authorities have confirmed that a suspect, believed to be a Russian national with ties to the GRU, has been detained.
The killing has prompted a coordinated response from the UK’s National Crime Agency and MI5, who are working alongside Polish counterintelligence. A spokesman for the Foreign Office stated that the British government “stands ready to provide any and all resources to ensure that the perpetrators of this heinous act are brought to justice”. The incident is being treated as an act of state-sponsored terrorism, and analysts suggest it represents a marked escalation in Moscow’s campaign against dissidents abroad.
Petrov, 47, had been granted political asylum in Poland following the attempted poisoning of a similar critic in London in 2018. He had publicly documented Russian military activities in Ukraine and was scheduled to testify before an international war crimes tribunal. The assassination bears the hallmarks of previous killings linked to the Kremlin, including the use of a rare poison subsequently identified as a Novichok-class nerve agent, according to forensic experts.
Diplomatic sources indicate that the UK will push for additional sanctions against Russia at the UN Security Council. The Polish Prime Minister has described the attack as “an act of war”, while the Kremlin has denied any involvement and accused British intelligence of fabricating evidence. The tension threatens to further destabilise an already fragile geopolitical landscape, with NATO allies now weighing enhanced protective measures for exiled Russian figures.
