A Russian journalist who had reportedly been shot dead in Kiev has turned up alive at a news conference in Ukraine. Russia had denied any involvement in the reported killing of anti-Kremlin reporter Arkady Babchenko. The head of Ukraine's security services says they faked his death to foil a real plot to kill him. </s> In a totally surreal turn of events, less than 24 hours after it was reported that prominent Russian war journalist Arkadi Babchenko had been assassinated outside of his home in Kiev, he had risen from the dead. He was reported by the Ukrainian government to have died of three gunshot wounds to the back while being transported to a hospital in the back of an ambulance. Babchenko, who is the author of a beloved memoir of his war service in Chechnya, and who had fled to Kiev from his native Russia last year, stunned the post-Soviet world when he appeared alive and well at a Kiev press conference yesterday in a black hoody. The journalist appeared to be unscathed, standing with Vasyl Hrytsak, the head of the SBU, Ukraine’s main intelligence agency.

Learning several months ago of an impending assassination attempt on the high-profile journalist, the Ukrainian intelligence service created an audacious sting operation to entrap both the killer and the Russian agent who was organizing the attempted hit. The SBU chief released details of the plot, which was allegedly executed by an eastern Ukrainian separatist who was to have been paid $30,000 for the hit by Russian agents. Another $10,000 were promised to a middleman who found the assassin. The Ukrainian president thanked the SBU for having a tremendous success, and the interior minister smirked over yesterday’s accusations that the Ukrainian state was not capable of defending people living on its territory.

Babchenko gave his press conference in Ukrainian, which he seems to have learned to a passable level since having fled to Ukraine last autumn. He began with an apology to his wife, for having put her through what one can imagine was probably the worst night of her life.

In a wonderful touch, the influential Ukrainian parliamentarian and interior ministry spokesman, Anton Gerashenko, who had publicly confirmed that Babchenko had been killed yesterday, used a literary justification for the misdirection: “After all, Arthur Conan Doyle’s hero Sherlock Holmes successfully used the same method of staging his own death in effective investigations of complex and intricate crimes. No matter how painful it must have been for his family and Dr. Watson.”

An important fact largely missing from the deluge of Western commentary was the fact that the Ukrainian special services have certainly engaged in this behavior before, most notably in a case relating to the Ukrainian Odessa MP Alexi Goncharenko, who was “kidnapped” last year for his own protection. In Babchenko’s case, however, many of his fans were devastated to learn that the beloved journalist was executed in broad daylight.

The scheme has demonstrated a surprising capacity from the Ukrainian intelligence services to protect high-risk targets and carry out complex dragnet operations that many commentators and experts had doubted they could pull off. Still, the incident ignited a passionate debate on the necessity of the fake operation and of Babchenko’s faked death, with sharp divisions and arguments erupting over both social media and with foreign journalists and policy experts almost uniformly critical of the operation. On the Maidan, on the other hand, where crowds had gathered to mourn the writer, many were suddenly popping Champagne bottles.

, executive director at The American Center for a European Ukraine, told Tablet that “

On Twitter, meanwhile, the swaggering and irrepressible Babchenko wrote that “I promised to die at 96, having danced on the grave of Putin and taken a selfie.”

Vladislav Davidzon, the Chief Editor of The Odessa Review, is a Russian-American writer, translator, and critic. He was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and lives in Paris. </s> Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko, who was reported killed in Kiev, shows up at a news conference in Ukraine. </s> Ukraine Intelligence Agents Say They Staged Killing Of Russian Journalist, Who Is Alive

Ukraine intelligence agents say they staged the apparent murder of a Russian journalist in Kiev in an attempt to trap a real assassin.

The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. The popular misquote of Mark Twain seems appropriate for our next story. Those are words Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko could have used today. NPR's Lucian Kim reports on how the journalist's supposed murder has once again pitted Ukraine against its Russian neighbor.

LUCIAN KIM, BYLINE: The news broke late Tuesday evening in Kiev. Arkady Babchenko, a Russian journalist and vocal critic of the Kremlin, had been shot dead at his apartment in the Ukrainian capital.

KIM: The TV news report sounded horrible. Babchenko, who had fled Russia after being threatened by Russian lawmakers, had been murdered in cold blood after returning home after buying a loaf of bread. Ukraine Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman pinned responsibility for the murder on what he called the Russian totalitarian machine, and colleagues poured out their emotions at interviews and on social media.

KIM: Yevgenia Albats, one of Babchenko's former editors, told a Moscow radio station that now every Russian journalist was in mortal danger. A familiar blame game began, with the Kremlin saying the Ukrainians had barely begun their investigation but were already pointing the finger at Moscow.

KIM: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called Babchenko's death a tragedy. He said accusations against Russia were groundless, just like the claims that Russia had poisoned a former Russian double agent in England or had been involved in the downing of a Malaysian passenger plane over eastern Ukraine. Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, accused the Ukrainians of the height of cynicism. And Russian investigators even offered their services to their Ukrainian colleagues, since Babchenko was a Russian citizen.

In fact, the Ukrainian authorities don't exactly have a great record in clearing up contract killings. Two years ago, Russian journalist Pavel Sheremet died in a car bombing on a Kiev street, and the case still hasn't been solved. This time, however, the Ukraine police produced a sketch of Babchenko's killer in no time. And the SBU, Ukraine's security agency, scheduled a press conference on the murder for Wednesday. Journalists who showed up were stunned when SBU Chief Vasyl Hrytsak suddenly introduced a supposed victim, Arkady Babchenko, alive and unhurt.

Babchenko's murder had been faked, Hrytsak said, to uncover an actual plot against him by Russian intelligence. Babchenko said the sting operation was so secret that not even his own wife knew about it.

KIM: Babchenko apologized to his wife, Olga, for the hell he had put her through but said he didn't have an option. Reaction to the news has been mixed. Some of Babchenko's colleagues said they were relieved he was alive but concerned that he had damaged the credibility of their profession. Reporters Without Borders expressed its deepest indignation with the Ukrainian Security Service for using a journalist to play with the facts. Lucian Kim, NPR News, Moscow. </s> KIEV: First, Ukraine announced the "murder" of prominent Russian journalist and Kremlin critic Arkady Babchenko late Tuesday, prompting an outpouring of grief and condemnation, and mutual accusations between Kiev and Moscow.

Then, in a stunning twist on Wednesday, the Ukraine security services revealed Babchenko was still alive, with his "killing" staged as a sting to catch the masterminds behind a real plot to assassinate him on orders of the Russian security services.

Here is an outline of how the top-secret operation panned out.

Babchenko's 'last post'

 On Tuesday morning at 0856 GMT, Babchenko writes a post on Twitter and Facebook about narrowly avoiding death four years ago when he failed to board a helicopter that crashed, referring to it as his "second birthday".

Police announce murder

 Hours later, at around 1800 GMT, Ukrainian police announce Babchenko has died after being hit by three bullets to the back in the stairwell of his apartment block in Kiev. Police say his wife called an ambulance after finding him bleeding but he died on route to hospital.

Later police early on Wednesday morning release a drawing of the suspected killer, describing him as a bearded man with a noticeable belly. Police say they are primarily looking into Babchenko's "professional activities" as the motive.

Aide to the Ukraine interior minister Anton Gerashchenko posts a photograph of Babchenko lying facedown in a pool of blood.

Russia condemns murder

 Russia's Investigative Committee says at 1930 GMT that it has launched its own probe, adding it will not ignore "cruel crimes" against Russians in Ukraine.

Ukraine PM blames Russia

 Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman writes on Twitter at 1936 GMT: "I am convinced that the Russian totalitarian machine did not forgive him his honesty and principled stance.

"A true friend of Ukraine who was telling the world the truth about Russian aggression. His murderers should be punished."

He also reposts Babchenko's final social media message about dodging death.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin later mentions the murder at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.

Russia points finger at Kiev

 The Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement at 1955 GMT condemns the murder, saying that "bloody crimes and total lawlessness have become routine for the Kiev regime" and that violent attacks and murders of journalists are "steadily rising" in Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov comments on Wednesday at 0700 GMT, calling the death a "tragedy" and predicting Kiev will blame Russian security services.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists at 1000 GMT that "We strongly condemn this killing" and said Ukraine had become a "very dangerous place" for journalists. He calls Kiev's blaming Russia for the killing the "height of cynicism."

The big reveal

 A news conference called by Ukraine's SBU security service starts at 1400 GMT in Kiev. Minutes later, head of the service Vasyl Grytsak ushers Babchenko into the room to gasps and applause from journalists and congratulates him on his "third birthday."

Babchenko says he was told of the planned killing by Ukrainian security services a month ago. He apologises to his wife for putting her through "hell".

Grytsak says that the organiser who tried to arrange the contract killing was detained in Kiev around three hours earlier.

Russia condemns 'provocation'

 Russia's foreign ministry late Wednesday condemned what it called an "anti-Russian provocation," criticising the statements by Ukrainian officials. It calls on Kiev to investigate "real murders".

Babchenko vows to live to 96

 Babchenko on Twitter vows to "die at 96 after dancing on Putin's grave". </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Back from the dead?

Ukraine staged the murder of a Russian dissident journalist in Kiev on Tuesday in what it said was a sting operation to foil a Russian assassination plot.

Arkady Babchenko sent shock waves around the world when he arrived at a news conference on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after being reported dead.

Ukrainian security chief Vasyl Hrytsak said a sting had been set up to catch hitmen paid by Russian forces.

Russia described events in Kiev as an "anti-Russian provocation".

Ukrainian police say they made one arrest.

Babchenko's wife said on Tuesday she had found her husband at the entrance to their apartment block with bullet wounds in his back, and he was reported to have died in an ambulance on the way to hospital.

That story was widely reported by media around the world, until Wednesday's sudden and extraordinary development.

There were gasps and applause at the press conference in Kiev as Babchenko entered the room. He thanked the Ukrainian security services for saving his life and said he had had no choice but to take part in the sting.

"I did my job," he said. " I'm still alive."

"I have buried many friends and colleagues many times and I know the sickening feeling," he added. "I am sorry you had to experience it. But there was no other way."

Hours after the news broke, Babchenko tweeted to say he would "die at 96" after "dancing on Putin's grave", referring to the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.

Babchenko fled Russia in 2017 after writing a Facebook post (in Russian) about a crashed Tu-154 transport plane, which went into the Black Sea while carrying a Red Army choir to Syria.

He said this Facebook post, in which he described Russia as an "aggressor", had led to death threats and abuse from the Russian state.

What do we know about the operation?

Babchenko said he had been informed a month ago about an alleged Russian plot to kill him. He said he had agreed to co-operate with a counter-operation and had been in constant contact with Ukrainian security services over the course of the past month.

He added that he thought security services had been planning the operation for up to two months.

Mr Hrytsak said the operation had begun after Ukrainian security services were informed about a Russian plot to kill the journalist.

He alleged that Russian security forces had recruited a Ukrainian citizen to find hitmen within Ukraine. He said the citizen had approached several acquaintances, including war veterans, offering $30,000 (£22,600) for the contract killing, one of whom revealed the plot to the security services.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Babchenko covering the Maidan protests in Kiev in 2014

The security services then informed Babchenko, apparently determining that the only way to reveal the plotters was to stage a fake hit.

Babchenko said that his wife Olga and his children had been aware of the plan but he publicly apologised to her at the press conference. "I am terribly sorry," he said, "but there were no other options."

Mr Hrytsak said the man detained by police was the Ukrainian who had allegedly attempted to find a hitman.

The reaction

Russia's foreign ministry condemned the staged assassination, calling it "obviously yet another anti-Russian provocation".

Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the operation as "a masquerade" done for "propagandistic effect". She added that Russia was happy that Babchenko was alive, saying: "I wish it were always like that."

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the country would offer protection to Babchenko. "It is unlikely that Moscow will calm down," he said on Twitter. "I've given an order to provide Arkady and his family with protection."

The Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty network posted video footage of Babchenko's colleagues reacting to news that he was alive.

But many expressed reservations over the tactics used by the Ukrainian security services. Campaign group Reporters Without Borders condemned the operation as a "pathetic stunt".

"It is pathetic and regrettable that the Ukrainian police have played with the truth, whatever their motive," the head of the organisation, Christophe Deloire, told AFP news agency.

The Committee to Protect Journalists demanded that the authorities explain "what necessitated the extreme measure", describing it in a tweet as an "unprecedented situation".

Russian investigative journalist Andrei Soldatov, a former colleague of Babchenko, said the sting had "crossed a line big time".

"Babchenko is a journalist not a policeman, for Christ sake, and part of our job is trust, whatever Trump & Putin say about fake news," he wrote on Twitter. "I'm glad he is alive, but he undermined even further the credibility of journalists and the media."

Simon Ostrovsky, a journalist and friend of Babchenko, told the BBC he felt "anger and relief in equal measure".

“From being incredibly gloomy and sad yesterday... to frankly anger today, we’ve all been hoodwinked and made to believe our friend died."

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Friend of Babchenko: "We’ve all been hoodwinked"

A glaring example of 'fake news'

Frank Gardner, BBC Security Correspondent

There can be few more glaring examples of 'fake news' than the deliberate misreporting by a sovereign government of a prominent journalist's death.

Relations between Russia and Ukraine are at an all-time low, following Moscow's annexation of Crimea and the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, and Russia has been accused of several recent deaths of Kremlin critics in Ukraine.

But this staged non-death will inevitably muddy the waters. Russia already denies any involvement in the attempted assassination of its former spy Sergei Skripal in the UK city of Salisbury in March, calling it fake news.

It will now likely seize on this deception in Kiev to strengthen its claim in that case, and in others.

Deaths in Kiev

Kiev has in recent years seen a number of deadly attacks on high-profile figures, including journalists and politicians. Most of them were vocal critics of the Kremlin.

The leading Belarusian journalist and Kremlin critic, Pavel Sheremet, was killed by a car bomb in Kiev in July 2016.

Another car bomb killed Ukrainian military intelligence officer Col Maxim Shapoval in June 2017 in what the Ukrainian authorities called a terrorist act.

In March of the same year, former Russian MP Denis Voronenkov was shot dead outside a hotel in Kiev. </s> This is a photo taken on Nov. 14, 2017 in Kiev, Ukraine of Russian opposition journalist Arkady Babchenko. A Russian journalist harshly critical of the Kremlin was shot and killed in the Ukrainian capital Tuesday, May 29, 2018 and the national police said he apparently was targeted because of his work.

UPDATE: Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko is alive. 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. Read the story here.

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Below is the earlier story, based on fabricated information from Ukrainian authorities:

A Russian journalist harshly critical of the Kremlin was shot and killed in the Ukrainian capital Tuesday, and the national police said they are assuming he was targeted because of his work.

Ukrainian police said Arkady Babchenko's wife found him bleeding at their apartment building in Kiev and called an ambulance, but Babchenko died on the way to a hospital.

Police said he had multiple gunshot wounds on his back.

"The first and the most obvious version is his professional activities," Kiev Police Chief Andriy Krishchenko said in televised comments.

Harlem Desir, the media freedom representative at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said he was "horrified" by Babchenko's death.

"I call on Ukraine authorities to conduct immediate & full investigation," he tweeted.

The Committee to Protect Journalists in New York said on Twitter that "Ukrainian authorities should conduct a swift and thorough investigation" into Babchenko's murder.

Babchenko, 41, was scathingly critical of the Kremlin's policies, assailing Moscow's annexation of Crimea, its support for separatist insurgents in eastern Ukraine and the Russian campaign in Syria.

Ukrainian and Russian officials immediately traded finger-pointing over his death.

Anton Gerashchenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker who serves as an adviser to the interior minister, said on Facebook that investigators would be looking at "Russian spy agencies' efforts to get rid of those who are trying to tell the truth about what is going on in Russia and Ukraine."

Gerashchenko said Babchenko's killer was waiting for him on the staircase inside the journalist's building and shot him in the back as he was going out to buy bread.

Ukrainian police released a sketch of a suspect based on witness descriptions of a gray-bearded man in his 40s wearing a baseball cap. They said the gunman may have had accomplices.

In Moscow, officials and lawmakers criticized Ukrainian authorities for their alleged failure to protect journalists.

Mikhail Fedotov, the head of the Kremlin Human Rights Council, said Babchenko's slaying was a "clear provocation." The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that "bloody crimes and total impunity have become routine" in Ukraine.

Another renowned journalist, Pavel Sheremet, a native of Belarus who had worked for Russian media outlets in the past, was killed in a car bombing in central Kiev in July 2016. The case has remained unsolved.

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

In March 2017, renegade Russian lawmaker Denis Voronenkov was shot and killed at the entrance of an upscale hotel in Kiev. Ukrainian prosecutors alleged that Voronenkov, who had toed the Kremlin line while serving as a Russian lawmaker but turned into a Kremlin critic after his 2016 move to Ukraine, was killed on orders from a Russian crime lord.

Babchenko served in the Russian army and fought during the first separatist war in Chechnya during the 1990s. He later became a journalist and worked as a military correspondent for several Russian media outlets. He also published several books based on his wartime experiences.

Some of his articles and posts outraged many Russians. In one, he said he felt no regret about the deaths of Russian army choir members and others from a December 2016 plane crash as they were heading to perform before Russian troops in Syria. Several Russian lawmakers even called for stripping Babchenko of his citizenship over the comment.

Babchenko left Russia in February 2017, saying he was receiving threats and concerned he might be jailed.

He moved to Kiev last fall, where he worked as a host for the Crimean Tatar TV station, ATR.

Just hours before he was shot, Babchenko wrote on Facebook that he narrowly escaped death exactly four years ago when the Ukrainian military refused to take him on a helicopter heading to the front line in eastern Ukraine. The aircraft was shot down minutes later.

"I was lucky, it was my second birthday," he wrote Tuesday.

Copyright Associated Press </s> KIEV (Reuters) - A prominent Russian journalist and critic of President Vladimir Putin was shot dead in Ukraine where he had fled into exile following threats, police said on Tuesday.

Arkady Babchenko, 41, died of his wounds in an ambulance after his wife found him covered in his blood in their home, police said, adding they suspected the murder was due to Babchenko’s professional activities.

Babchenko, a former soldier in the Chechen war who became one of Russia’s best-known war correspondents, had left his homeland fearing for his life after criticizing Russian policy in Ukraine and Syria.

He had been denounced by pro-government politicians in Russia over comments on social media about the Russian bombing of Aleppo in Syria’s war, and over his characterization of Russia as an aggressor toward Ukraine.

“The first and the most probable version is his professional activity,” Kiev police chief Andriy Kryshchenko said at a televised press briefing when asked what police suspected lay behind the murder.

Babchenko’s wife is in a state of shock and police are unable to speak to her, he said. Ukrainian authorities released a drawing of the man they suspect is Babchenko’s assassin, around 40-45 years old, with a grey beard and wearing a cap.

Two years ago Pavel Sheremet, a Belarussian journalist known for his criticism of his home country’s leadership and his friendship with the slain Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, was blown up in a car bomb in central Kiev.

FILE PHOTO: Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko attends an interview in Kiev, Ukraine November 14, 2017. REUTERS/Vitalii Nosach

“Putin’s regime takes aim at those who cannot be broken or intimidated,” Anton Gerashchenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker and adviser to the interior minister, wrote on Facebook.

Babchenko’s house had run out of bread and he had gone to the shops to buy some, Gerashchenko said. He was gunned down on Tuesday by someone waiting for him in the stairwell at the entrance to his home. He was shot him in the back several times.

“Today in Kiev on the threshold of the apartment where he lived, famous Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko was shot and killed, a consistent opponent of the Putin regime and a friend of Ukraine.”

In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry said journalists were being killed with impunity in Ukraine.

“Bloody crimes and total impunity have become routine for the Kiev regime. We demand that the Ukrainian authorities make every effort to promptly investigate,” it said on Facebook.

The Investigative Committee of Russia said it had opened a criminal case into Babchenko’s death.

Babchenko took part in the war in Chechnya as a soldier. He then he became a war reporter for several Russian newspapers. On Feb. 27 last year, he wrote on Facebook that he had left Russia.

Slideshow (11 Images)

He reported on Russia sending private military contractors to Syria and the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH-17 in July 2014 in eastern Ukraine, for which investigators last week held the Russian state responsible. Russian authorities again denied any connection with the plane’s downing over an area of Ukraine held by pro-Russian separatist forces.

In his last Facebook post before he was killed, Babchenko recalled an incident four years ago when he was meant to fly in a Ukrainian military helicopter in Ukraine’s embattled Donbass region. The helicopter was overloaded and he was not permitted to fly. It was shot down and 14 people on board were killed.

“And I was lucky. Second birthday, it turns out,” he wrote. </s> By DMYTRO VLASOV and NATALIYA VASILYEVA, Associated Press

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian journalist who was reportedly gunned down in Ukraine’s capital strolled into a news conference that authorities called Wednesday to discuss the investigation of his death, revealing that the slaying 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 held less than 24 hours after police reported he had been shot and killed at his Kiev apartment building.

Ukrainian police said Tuesday that Babchenko, a strong critic of the Kremlin, was shot multiple times in the back Tuesday and found bleeding there by his wife. Authorities said they suspected he was killed because of his work.

Babchenko apologized to his wife, who he said was not briefed on the scheme in advance, “for the hell she had to go through in the past two days. There was no choice there, either.”

Neither he nor Vasyl Gritsak, head of the Ukrainian Security Service, provided details of how they staged Babchenko’s injuries or made his wife believe he was dead.

The movie-like twist came as Gritsak convened the news conference to announce that the security agency and the police had solved Babchenko’s reported slaying. He then confused everyone there by inviting the supposed slaying into the room.

To applause and gasps, Babchenko took the floor and apologized to the friends and family who mourned for him and were unaware of the plan.

“I’m still alive,” he said. “I know that sickening feeling when you bury a colleague. I’m sorry you had to go through this but there was no other way.”

Before ushering Babchenko into the room, Gritsak said investigators had identified a Ukrainian citizen who allegedly was paid $40,000 by the Russian security service to organize and carry out the hit. The unidentified Ukrainian man in turn allegedly hired an acquaintance to be the gunman, Gritsak said.

The man allegedly paid to organize Banchenko’s killing was detained Wednesday, he said, showing a video of the arrest.

Gritsak said killing Babchenko was part of a larger alleged plot by Russian security services. The Ukrainian man was also supposed to procure large quantities of weapons and explosives, including 300 AK-47 rifles and “hundreds of kilos of explosives,” to perpetrate acts of terror in Ukraine, he said.

Babchenko said he was not allowed to go into the details of the sting operation, but said Ukrainian law enforcement had been aware of a contract on his head for two months. He said he was approached by the Ukrainian Security Service, the SBU, a month ago.

“The important thing is my life has been saved and other, bigger terrorist attacks have been thwarted,” he said.

Babchenko, one of Russia’s best-known war reporters, fled the country in February 2017 after receiving death threats. He spoke and wrote about leaving the country because of the threats against him and his family. He said his home address was published online and the threats he received were made by phone, email and social media.

Ilya Ponomarev, a former Russian lawmaker who also moved to Ukraine, said Babchenko continued being threatened after he settled last fall in Kiev, where he worked as a host for the Crimean Tatar TV station. Babchenko did not take the intimidation too seriously, Ponomarev said Wednesday before the fact that the slaying was staged came out.

Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and support for separatist insurgents in eastern Ukraine were topics on which the journalist was scathingly critical of the Kremlin.

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuri Lutsenko lashed out Wednesday at Ukrainian politicians and civil groups who accused the government following Babchenko’s faked assassination of allowing contract killings to happen.

Vasilyeva reported from Moscow. Ayse Wieting in Istanbul and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
Arkady Babchenko, who was reportedly assassinated yesterday in Kiev, Ukraine, appears on live television stating that the assassination was staged.