WHOA! On Tuesday, just yesterday, we all mourned Russian journalist and Kremlin Arkady Babchenko after his wife found him shot outside of their apartment in Kyiv, Ukraine, and he died on the way to the hospital.
Today, Babchenko turned up at a news conference…ALIVE AND WELL. He faked his death so the authorities could catch those people who put a price on his head.
What a freaking brilliant move. We all know Russia has no problem taking out their critics, even on international grounds.
Babchenko was no exception. He left Russia in 2017 after he received “death threats over a post on social media.”
At a news conference, where people thought Ukrainian officials would tell them how they solved Babchenko’s murder, brought him out instead.
Ukraine’s Security Service said its officials “had received prior warning about the attempted murder of Babchenko and decided to conduct an operation to collect evidence of terrorist activity by the Russian special services on Ukrainian territory.”
Vasyl Hrytsak, the head of the security services, told the media that the assassination plot against Babchenko “was ordered by the Russian security services themselves.” The officials “identified a Ukrainian citizen” recruited by the Russians and paid $40,000 to murder Babchenko.
This Ukrainian gave the job to “an acquaintance who had fought in the separatist war in eastern Ukraine as the gunman.” The Ukrainian services then “recruited the hired ‘killer’ as a double agent and stage the murder in order to arrest the organizer.”
From RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty:
Babchenko appeared on the live television briefing after Hrytsak’s announcement, saying the fictitious reports of his death were part of an SBU operation that had been prepared for two months.”As far as I know, this operation was prepared for two months. A result of that was this special operation,” Babchenko told the briefing. “They saved my life. I want to say thanks. Larger terrorist attacks were prevented.”Babchenko said he had no choice but to take part in the operation.”I did my job. I’m still alive,” Babchenko said.
Babchenko didn’t even tell his wife about the plot. “Special apologies to my wife,” he said at the conference.
Ukrainian security services also detained the Ukrainian who organized the hit on Babchenko. Officials said the man “was going to organize killings of 30 Russian citizens in Ukraine on Russian special services’ order, with Babchenko being the first one.”
This video shows officials detaining the man:
[Featured image via YouTube]
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