Ukraine lambasted for fake death plot

Ukraine came under fire on Thursday after it admitted staging the murder of anti-Kremlin journalist Arkady Babchenko, despite relief in Russia and Ukraine that he was alive.

Babchenko made a shock reappearance at a news conference in Kiev on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the Ukrainian authorities reported he had been shot dead at his home in a contract-style killing blamed on Russia.

Ukraine’s security services said his death was faked to foil an assassination plot by Moscow, but Russian officials reacted with anger to what they branded an “anti-Russian provocation”. The Kremlin said the story was “at the very least bizarre” and dismissed accusations that it had attempted to assassinate Babchenko.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said ahead of a visit to Kiev on Thursday that it was “indispensable to shed light on what happened” and called on Ukraine to clarify the situation in order to “encourage trust”.

The staged killing angered press freedom groups, who expressed fear about the effect it could have on the work of journalists around the world.

“By spreading false evidence about his murder, Ukrainian authorities have seriously eroded the credibility of information,” International Federation of Journalists president Philippe Leruth said. “The International Federation of Journalists fights against impunity, which benefits journalists’ murderers, but it also demands transparency of information,” he said.