Journalist critical of Putin shot dead
A Russian journalist critical of President Vladimir Putin was shot dead in Kiev, the third assassination in two years of a Kremlin foe in Ukraine’s capital.
Arkady Babchenko, who moved to the city last year following threats in his homeland, was fired on after returning from buying bread and died of his injuries in an ambulance, local police said late Tuesday. They said the killing may relate to his work.
The murder will further strain ties between Ukraine and Russia, post-Soviet allies who fell out following the ouster of Ukraine’s pro-Kremlin leader in 2014. That prompted Putin to annex Crimea and back a war on the two nations’ border.
“Russia’s totalitarian machine didn’t forgive him his honesty,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroisman posted on Facebook. “He was a real friend of Ukraine who told the truth to the world about Russian aggression.”
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov complained Wednesday that his country is being accused without proof, calling the killing “a tragedy.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it’s “the height of cynicism” to accuse Russia of involvement.
Babchenko, 41, rose to fame as a war correspondent in Russia. He travelled to the conflict in Ukraine, which continues to claim lives, and criticised the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines passenger flight MH17, which killed 298 people. Investigators from Australia and the Netherlands last week blamed Russia for the tragedy. BLOOMBERG
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