Media groups angry as murdered anti-Kremlin journalist shows up at a press conference
Kiev — Ukraine was under fire on Thursday after it admitted staging the murder of anti-Kremlin journalist Arkady Babchenko, despite relief in Russia and Ukraine that he was alive. Babchenko made a shock re-appearance at a press conference in Kiev on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the Ukrainian authorities reported he had been shot dead at his home in a contract-style killing blamed on Russia. Ukraine’s security services said his death was faked to foil an assassination plot by Moscow, but Russian officials reacted with anger to what they branded an "anti-Russian provocation". The Kremlin said the story was "at the very least bizarre" and dismissed accusations that it had attempted to assassinate Babchenko. German foreign minister Heiko Maas said ahead of a visit to Kiev on Thursday that it is "indispensable to shed light on what happened" and called on Ukraine to clarify the situation in order to "encourage trust". Babchenko’s staged killing fooled the world’s media and angered...
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