Ukraine Faked Death Of Exiled Russian Journalist Arkady Babchenko

To the applause and gasps of the press, ‘dead’ Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko took the floor at the news conference and apologized to the friends and family who mourned for him and were unaware of the plan.

The head of the Ukrainian Security Service says investigators have identified a Ukrainian citizen who allegedly was paid $40,000 by the Russian security service to organize and carry out the killing of an exiled Russian journalist.

Vasyl Gritsak announced at a news conference Wednesday that the security agency and police had solved Arkady Babchenko’s slaying, which turned out to have been faked.

Kiev and national police had said Babchenko, a strong critic of the Kremlin, was shot multiple times in the back at his apartment building on Tuesday and found there bleeding by his wife.

Before ushering Babchenko into the room, Gritsak said the Ukrainian allegedly recruited by Russian agents to kill the reporter had hired an acquaintance to be the gunman.

Vasily Gritsak, head of the Ukrainian Security Service, told a news conference on Wednesday the agency faked Babchenko’s death to catch those who were trying to kill him.

Kiev and national police had said Babchenko, a strong critic of the Kremlin, was shot multiple times in the back at his apartment building and found bleeding by his wife.

He showed up at Gritsak’s new conference on Wednesday and thanked everyone who was mourning his death.

Babchenko, 41, one of Russia’s best-known war reporters, spoke and wrote about leaving the country because of repeated threats that he and his family would be harmed.

A top lawmaker says Russia is willing to help Ukraine investigate the murder of a Russian journalist.

Arkady Babchenko, who was scathingly critical of the Kremlin, was gunned down in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, on Tuesday.

Babchenko fled Russia last year, fearing for his life, and settled in Ukraine. He had served in the Russian army during the two wars in Chechnya in 1990s and became one of Russia’s best-known war reporters.

Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the State Duma, told Russian news agencies Wednesday that Russia would be happy to help with the investigation if Ukrainian authorities requested it.

Ukrainian authorities have said they think Babchenko was killed because of his work. Several Ukrainian politicians blamed the Kremlin for the killing. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed those comments as cynical.