Was monk paid to kill Putin critic who faked his death?
A FORMER monk and a Ukrainian arms dealer were last night revealed as the two men who allegedly plotted the assassination of a Russian journalist before he faked his own death.
In a confession posted on Facebook, Oleksiy Tsymbalyuk – an ex-monk now ordained as a deacon – claimed he had been hired by Russia to kill Arkady Babchenko, a critic of Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile arms dealer Boris German, 50, was identified as the man detained by the Ukrainian secret service SBU for plotting Mr Babchenko’s murder.
He has been charged with plotting terrorism and could face up to 12 years in prison if he is found guilty.
He is the executive director of a Ukrainian-German arms manufacturer called Schmeisser, which has supplied sniper rifles to Ukrainians fighting pro-Putin rebels.
Yesterday a video emerged of his arrest in a Kiev street on Wednesday. Another video released in Ukraine appears to show Mr Tsymbalyuk being paid $30,000 (£22,500) by Mr German.
The assassination attempt was foiled after Mr Tsymbalyuk supposedly collaborated with SBU to implicate Moscow.
The SBU and Mr Babchenko then faked the assassination in what was claimed to be an operation to gain proof of Moscow’s involvement.
Mr Tsymbalyuk is now being treated as a witness, not a suspect. Mr German’s lawyer said accusations against his client lacked any evidence.
Moscow has dismissed the affair as a crass provocation by Kiev aimed at embarrassing president Putin as Russia prepares to host the World Cup this month.
Mr Tsymbalyuk said in a social media posting: ‘For the first time the SBU has worked to forestall against FSB (the Russian security service).’ He claimed ‘talented’ investigators had worked on the case and prevented a killing.
A former fighter against pro-Putin rebels and Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, he said that he had co-operated with the investigation. ‘For the first time we overcame them (the FSB)…and this is beautiful.’
He said: ‘I know for sure that the officer who pulled this case on his shoulders is the real, honest investigator. People really work hard to make life in Ukraine safer. The SBU did not cheat me.’
After a video appeared of him being paid $30,000 allegedly by Mr German – as an ‘advance for the murder’ – he decided to out himself, he said.
Earlier reports in the Ukrainian media claimed that a Chechen assassin nicknamed Validol, or Valid Lurakhmanov, could be behind the case. Like Mr Tsymbalyuk, he resembled an identikit picture published when Mr Babchenko’s death was faked.
Mr German’s lawyer has claimed the SBU was guilty of a ‘provocation’ in framing the arms dealer, who is believed to be a Ukrainian citizen.
Messages between his client and the would-be assassin did not mention murder, and he claimed the SBU had made no effort to seek the real organiser.
The news came after Mr Babchenko told journalists he was smeared with pig’s blood and taken to the mortuary as part of the elaborate hoax.
He said Ukrainian agents suggested the hoax shooting about a month ago after they discovered an order for his murder had been placed. Police released photos on Tuesday apparently showing the 41-year- old had been shot three times in the back inside his apartment building in Kiev.
To make his death look realistic, Mr Babchenko said, security officers shot holes in his sweatshirt and a make-up artist smeared him with pig’s blood. A forensic expert ‘documented’ his death and then he was taken to the mortuary.
Mr Babchenko, who did not tell his wife of the fake assassination, said he had been worried the operation would fall through. ‘I only stopped being afraid at the morgue,’ he added.