Alive, 'slain' Russian journalist explains ruse

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW

A Russian journalist reported murdered a day earlier appeared at a press conference in Ukraine Wednesday, with a tale to tell.

"I'm still alive, keep dreaming," Arkady Babchenko said entering the venue for the press conference, showing that despite reports, he had not been shot to death in his apartment in the capital Kiev.

Addressing the news conference, Vasily Gritsak, head of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), said the reported murder was a ruse to flush out his would-be assassins, accusing them of acting on orders of "the Russian security services."

Babchenko, a critic of Russian President Vladmir Putin, apologized for the deception and thanked the SBU for “saving his life."

"As far as I know, the operation began two months ago,” he said.

“I was briefed a month ago, the whole month guys were doing their utmost, we were in touch, we thought, worked out, acted.”

He said a would-be organizer of his killing had been caught as a result, and “other crimes” prevented.

The SBU said a suspect in preparing for the killing had been detained. According to them, Russian intelligence services recruited a former counter-terrorist security officer in eastern Ukraine and offered him $30,000 for Babchenko's murder.

Babchenko left Russia last year, citing threats. Before moving to Kiev, he first lived in Prague.