Arkady Babchenko, 'murdered' Russian journalist, appears on Ukrainian TV - CNN - 0 views
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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.
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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.
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Ukrainian officials offered a jaw-dropping explanation for his so-called death -- to expose a Russian plot against him.
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He said Ukranian officials first told him about the threat against him -- and their elaborate plan to thwart it -- a month ago. He said he was told that $40,000 had already been transferred for the alleged assassination attempt.
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Babchenko said he became convinced that Russian government agencies were involved in the alleged murder plot when he was shown his passport photo and personal documents that he said could have been accessed by Russian special services.
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News of the apparent murder had stunned Kiev on Tuesday. Shortly after Babchenko's death was announced, Moscow and Kiev began blaming each other for the killing of the journalist, who is a vocal critic of the Kremlin and left Russia in 2017, saying he no longer felt safe.
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Babchenko called Russia an aggressor, and accused the country of killing children in its air support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.