‘Dead’ Russian Journalist Appears at a News Conference in Ukraine

His elaborate plan did not, it would seem, go down too well with his colleagues either, who had mourned Babchenko and felt “down and out” about his apparent death. The news sparked condemnation from the global community and Russian Federation protested being blamed.

Babchenko praised the operation, however, and thanked the Ukrainian Security Service, the SBU, for saving his life. Even his wife didn’t know that he was actually in on the act.

“I could condole Arkady Babchenko’s family, but I will not do it”, he said, instead congratulating Babchenko on his “survival” as he entered the room. “But I will not do it. On the contrary, today I congratulate Arkady on his third birthday in this hall”.

The weird sequence of events is unlikely to help ties between Ukraine and Russian Federation.

In Ukraine, Babchenko worked for the Crimean Tatar television network, ATR, and reported frequently on Russia’s support for separatist militants in eastern Ukraine.

Whether or not the operation did in fact catch Babchenko’s would-be assassins, some may be left wondering if the tactic of faking his death could harm the credibility of the Ukrainian government.

Babchenko is a well-known war correspondent in Russian Federation. Dozens of contract killings had been averted, he suggested, claiming that the list of potential victims in Ukraine stretched to 30 names. Investigators from Australia and the Netherlands last week blamed Russian Federation for the tragedy.

Babchenko fled Russian Federation a year ago, fearing for his life, and settled in Ukraine.

On Tuesday night, shortly after 9 p.m., a family friend in a Facebook post relayed news of the assassination.

“We have prevented an attempted murder of Babchenko by carrying out a special operation”, Hrytsak said.

Police in Kiev had said on Tuesday that Babchenko’s supposed death had most likely been due to his work as a journalist.

Babchenko, 41, was shot and killed in his apartment, according to police. News organizations went into overdrive.

“Ukraine is becoming the most risky country for reporters”, Russian lawmaker Yevgeny Revenko said in remarks carried by the state RIA Novosti news agency.

For others, it was harrowing.

A number of Kremlin critics have been killed in Ukraine in recent years, with one gunned down on a Kiev street in broad daylight and another whose vehicle exploded. “I’m sorry for making [his wife] live through this”. He apologised to his wife for the “nightmare” he had caused her but said there had been no alternative to playing at being dead.