Painter fellow fled with prince into the heart of Russia (5,4)
I believe the answer is:
frans hals
'painter' is the definition.
(I have seen 'Dutch painter' mean 'frans hals' so perhaps 'painter' could also mean 'frans hals')
'with prince into the heart of russia' is the wordplay.
'with' indicates putting letters inside.
'prince' becomes 'hal' (Shakespearean nickname of Henry V when a prince).
'into' becomes 'fran' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'the heart of' says to take the centre.
The centre of 'russia' is 'ss'.
'fran'+'ss'='franss'
'hal' inserted into 'franss' is 'FRANS HALS'.
'fellow fled' acts as a link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for frans hals that I've seen is " Dutch painter".)