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Death of Russian Journalist Faked by Ukraine, Supposedly to Foil Real Assassination Plot

posted by martyb on Thursday May 31 2018, @12:33PM   Printer-friendly
from the reports-of-my-death-are-greatly-exagerated dept.

takyon writes:

'Murdered' Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko turns up alive

A Russian journalist and critic of the Kremlin, reported to have been shot dead in Ukraine, showed up alive at a press conference on Wednesday to declare that his murder was faked by Ukrainian security services in an effort to foil an assassination plot against him.

In a stunning development, Arkady Babchenko, 41, walked into a room of journalists in Kiev who had been expecting to get an update on his murder.

He apologized to his wife Olechka -- who on Tuesday was reported to have found him bleeding to death at his apartment -- for the "hell" she had gone through. Ukrainian officials offered a jaw-dropping explanation for his so-called death -- to expose a Russian plot against him.

Script flipped.

Also at BBC.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by zocalo on Thursday May 31 2018, @02:08PM (2 children)

    by zocalo (302) on Thursday May 31 2018, @02:08PM (#686733)
    Different governments. I don't recall anyone claiming that he'd been murdered by the Ukrainian government, more that it was - with varying degrees of confidence ranging from possible to absolutely - the Russian government shutting up another critic in their (allegedly) tried and trusted way, but it's now clear that was just staged by the Ukraine government, apparently in an attempt to flush out the real assassins. Pretty brutal that not only didn't they tell his wife but let her find the "body" as well, which has to worthy of some further coverage/editorialising, but if they've managed to bag some of the assassins through this exercise as well then it could get really interesting.
    --
    UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
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  • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday May 31 2018, @07:33PM (1 child)

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Thursday May 31 2018, @07:33PM (#686887) Journal

    but if they've managed to bag some of the assassins through this exercise as well then it could get really interesting.

    They did:

    The head of the Ukrainian Security Service said the suspected organizer of the alleged hit plot was detained Wednesday, suggesting the bogus killing was aimed at flushing him out. [cbsnews.com]

    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by zocalo on Thursday May 31 2018, @07:57PM

      by zocalo (302) on Thursday May 31 2018, @07:57PM (#686899)
      Yes, "suspected". The two arrests (the other being the supposed assassin) are covered in TFS, but if it turns out they got the right people (which, I expect, it probably will) and they start talking (which expect they probably will, once suitably "encouraged") then I think we'll see the coverage to pick up again real fast. Also, we'll no doubt get to see Russia's other standard play: the one they use when they get busted, namely make a whole bunch of increasingly implausible claims that they had nothing to do with it. My bet is on them claiming a Ukranian false flag operation to try and get the West involved in the situation in the Crimea and eastern-Ukraine.

      It's only a few weeks after a whole bunch of tit-for-tat diplomatic explusions over the attempted murder of the Skripals too, albeit this time not on the soil of a permanent member of the UN Security Council with a lot of political allies. If the Ukrainian's can produce some compelling evidence, or even a confession or two, then it's going to be interesting to see how the international response and media coverage of this attempt compares as well.
      --
      UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!