page_title: Arkady Babchenko
section_title: Staged death
hierarchical_section_title: Arkady Babchenko / Ukraine / Staged death
caption_attribution_description: Українська: Президент України Петро Порошенко зустрівся з журналістом Аркадієм Бабченком Deutsch: von links nach rechts: Der ukrainische Präsident Petro Poroschenko, der Journalist Arkadi Babtschenko, der Chef des Geheimdienstes SBU Wassyl Hryzak und der Generalstaatsanwalt der Ukraine Jurij Luzenko.
context_page_description: Arkady Arkadyevich Babchenko is a Russian print and television journalist. From 1995, Babchenko served in the communication corps in the North Caucasus while participating in the First Chechen War. He later volunteered for six months during the Second Chechen War. After leaving the army in 2000 he worked as a war correspondent for more than a decade. Since 2017 he has worked as a presenter for the TV channel ATR. In 2006 he published the book One Soldier's War, about his experiences in Chechnya.
  It was reported on 29 May 2018 that Babchenko had been shot dead in his home in Kiev, Ukraine. The next day, he appeared in person at a press conference with the Security Service of Ukraine. The SBU said it staged Babchenko's murder in order to arrest Ukrainian assassins who were actually planning on carrying out the assassination.
context_section_description: International media reported on 29 May 2018 that Babchenko was assassinated as he returned to his apartment in Kiev. In a press statement, the Kiev Police stated that Babchenko possibly could have been killed as a reprisal for his work as a journalist. Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman claimed Russia was responsible for the assassination. The head of Russia's Federal Security Service, Alexander Bortnikov, denied the involvement of Russia.
  The next day, Babchenko appeared alive and well on live Ukrainian television at a press conference held by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). Babchenko had collaborated with the SBU for a month, conducting a secret operation. According to the SBU, the murder had been staged to expose Russian agents. Previously in Kiev, vocal critics of Vladimir Putin, journalist Pavel Sheremet and politician Denis Voronenkov, had been assassinated in 2016. Babchenko's wife said she knew her husband's death would be staged. The SBU also said it had detained a Ukrainian suspect (allegedly recruited by a Russian intelligence official), and an accomplice, who was engaged in preparations for the contract killing of Babchenko. The alleged assassin was reported to be helping the SBU with its investigation. According to SBU head Vasyl Hrytsak, those who had wanted to assassinate Babchenko had been planning to kill 30 people in Ukraine. The SBU claimed to have discovered this plot when one of the men approached to kill Babchenko revealed the plot to the security services. Allegedly several people, including Ukrainian war veterans, had been offered  for the contract killing.
  The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the International Federation of Journalists and Reporters Without Borders criticised the Ukrainian authorities for the staged death of Babchenko. Babchenko and the Ukrainian authorities defended the operation, saying it was necessary to collect evidence. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (also) rejected criticism of the sting operation, claiming that because of it "The whole world saw the real face of our enemy. It is not Ukraine you should condemn but Russia."
  On 31 May a Ukrainian court had remanded Borys Herman in custody for allegedly having paid  to a hired hitman after the news of the "killing" broke. Herman said that he had had no intention of killing the reporter and that he had co-operated with the Ukrainian counterintelligence. (In turn, the prosecutor stated that Herman was not a "secret agent" at all.) Borys Herman is a businessman working for a Ukrainian-German weapons company and he is a son of Lev Herman, known for his deep-rooted ties to a famous Russian criminal authority of Ukrainian origin, Semion Mogilevich, who has many alleged links to top Russian officials. Herman mentioned Vyacheslav Pivovarnik as a direct contractor of the assassination. Pivovarnik is the Ukrainian citizen, who according to some sources cooperated with the former deputy of the State Duma Sergey Shishkarev. His location was not established  immediately; there is the evidence that in February he left in an unknown direction.
caption: Babchenko meeting with (from left to right) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, SBU head Vasyl Hrytsak, and General Prosecutor of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko on 30 May.
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D5", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CC 2014 (Macintosh)", "Image DateTime": "2018:05:30 19:43:27", "Image Artist": "MYKOLA LAZARENKO", "Image Copyright": "MYKOLA LAZARENKO", "Image ExifOffset": "280", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "970", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5239", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/100", "EXIF FNumber": "16/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "1250", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "1250", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2018:05:30 19:04:19", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2018:05:30 19:04:19", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "415241/62500", "EXIF ApertureValue": "209759/62500", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "29", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "12", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3071", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1887", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "29", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "6501121", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[24, 70, 14/5, 14/5]"}