Kosachyov describes staging of journalist Babchenko's murder as Ukrainian govt provocation
MOSCOW. May 30 (Interfax) - The staging of Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko's murder is a nonsensical provocation by the Ukrainian authorities, Konstantin Kosachyov, the head of the Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee, said.
"It is a shame that Babchenko participated in the Ukrainian security services' provocation. I include this staging in the series of nonsensical actions on the Russian track carried out by the Ukrainian authorities,'" Kosachyov told Interfax on Wednesday following the Ukrainian Security Service's announcement that Babchenko is alive. On Tuesday, it was reported that he had been assassinated.
Babchenko, whose death from gunshot wounds was reported by the Ukrainian authorities on Tuesday, said earlier on Wednesday that he had been involved in a special operation to avert terrorist attacks in Ukraine one month prior to his "killing."
Alexei Pushkov, the head of the Federation Council Information Policy and Media Committee described the incident as a hoax.
"Latest information is that Babchenko is alive. It's a hoax, as well as a provocation, with accusations against Russia of a feigned murder," Pushkov wrote on Twitter.