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Ukrainian rapper Kyivstoner survived what could’ve been his last day on Earth when Polish security services dismantled an FSB assassination plot targeting the Ukrainian-American rapper in Warsaw.
A 29-year-old Russian national was arrested last Friday after counterterrorism and homicide police moved in on the suspect in Mokotow, a residential district south of central Warsaw, according to The Sun.
The regime’s got a problem with him, and they were willing to kill to solve it.
Kyivstoner, whose real name is Slevin Dadyan, 34, became a target because Russia’s Federal Security Service claims he’s orchestrating drone logistics to attack Moscow.
The FSB accuses him of managing the supply chain for first-person-view drones destined for attacks on strategic facilities in the Russian capital and surrounding regions.
The alleged weapons pipeline ran from Slovakia through Poland and Belarus, according to Polish media reports. Moscow branded him an extremist and terrorist, adding his name to its blacklist.
But here’s where it gets interesting: before Putin’s 2022 invasion, Kyivstoner spent years in Moscow working with Russian rap star Basta, back when the regime actually supported Hip-Hop artists.
Putin’s relationship with rap has always been complicated. He once invited popular rappers to perform at his presidential inauguration.
But when rappers like Husky started speaking out, the regime cracked down hard. Husky was arrested and jailed on charges of minor hooliganism after performing on the street in Krasnodar.
He then declared the genre rests on three pillars: sex, drugs and protest, and insisted the government needed to navigate and guide accordingly.
More than 10 high-profile rappers have left Russia since 2023, fleeing a regime that now treats the genre as a threat.
Kyivstoner’s situation represents the ultimate irony: a rapper who once collaborated with Moscow’s scene is now hunted by the very system that once celebrated Hip-Hop.
Kyivstoner first gained fame through viral comedy videos before becoming one of the founders of Ukrainian Hip-Hop group Hryby.
When the full-scale conflict erupted in February 2022, he fled Kyiv with his family to the US, where he stayed for two years before relocating to Slovakia in 2024.
The rapper has publicly condemned Moscow’s aggression while supporting Ukrainians fighting Russia, though he’s also criticized President Zelensky in interviews.
Kyivstoner flatly denies Russia’s allegations that he’s working with Ukrainian security services.
