‘Murdered’ journalist turns up at news conference
A RUSSIAN journalist who was reportedly gunned down in Ukraine’s capital has appeared alive and well at a news conference, revealing that his murder had been staged to foil an alleged Kremlin hit plot.
“I’m still alive,” Arkady Babchenko, 41, told startled fellow reporters at the news conference less than 24 hours after police reported he had been killed at his Kiev apartment building.
Ukrainian police said on Tuesday that Mr Babchenko, a strong critic of the Kremlin, was shot and found bleeding there by his wife. Authorities said they suspected he was killed because of his work.
Mr Babchenko apologised to his wife, who he said was not briefed on the scheme, “for the hell she had to go through”.
Neither he nor Vasyl Gritsak, head of the Ukrainian Security Service, provided details of how they staged Mr Babchenko’s injuries or made his wife believe he was dead.
The twist, which could have come straight from a spy thriller, came as Mr Gritsak said the security agency and the police had solved Mr Babchenko’s reported killing. He then confused everyone there by inviting the supposed victim into the room.
To applause, Mr Babchenko took the floor and apologised to friends and family who mourned for him. Mr Gritsak said investigators had identified a Ukrainian paid 40,000 dollars (£30,000) by Russian security services to carry out the hit. The Ukrainian in turn allegedly hired an acquaintance to be the gunman, Mr Gritsak said.
The man allegedly paid to organise Mr Babchenko’s killing was detained, he said.