Ukraine accepts Staging 'murder' of Russian journalist to defame Russia

Tuesday dawned for the family, friends and colleagues of Arkady Babchenko, a Russian war journalist, with the call for grief and mourn as it was reported that journalist was shot dead in Kiev as the Ukrainian police issued statement that the journalist was shot three times in the back and died on his way to the hospital.

The news of his murder brought in a wave of apprehension on the world platform as journalists and Western politicians were appalled at the news. Meanwhile, a section was busy writing obituaries, Ukraine and Russia were busy playing the blame game and decided to conduct their own investigations to reveal the truth. However, this agitation turned into a mess when Babchenko turned up alive at the police press conference on Wednesday afternoon, where many journalists were gathered to receive the briefing on the case.

The head of the Ukranian security service (SBU), Vasily Gritsak told reporters that whole case was staged to unveil the people who were trying to kill him. He claimed that it was essential to attain substantial evidence of communication between the murderer and the handlers behind him, who, according to him, were working for the Russian security services. 

After the issuance of this statement, Russia has dismissed all these claims and has declared it as propaganda against Russia. The foreign ministry called it as a "great news" that Babchenko was alive, but regarded the set up as a stunt to discredit the Russian sovereignty.

Regardless of the underlying motive and the truth behind the accusations, the strange move has drawn severe criticism from the media houses and journalists for undermining the reputation of journalism and reporting. "It is pathetic and regrettable that the Ukranian police have played with the truth, whatever their motive," Christophe Deloire, the head of Reporter Without Borders said as he voiced his opinion on the whole issue. "All it takes is one case like this to cast doubt on all the other political assassinations."

Similarly, a former colleague of Babchenko, Andrei Soldatov has also shown his reservation over the whole case and called it as "crossing a line, big time."