This is the moment co-workers of anti-Kremlin journalist Arkady Babchenko learned he’d faked his own death to thwart an assassination plot — and is still alive.
Arkady BabchenkoGetty ImagesEmotional video posted by Radio Free Europe shows staffers at Ukrainian TV network ATR cheer, gasp and hug as they watch the stunning press conference Wednesday where police revealed that Babchenko’s previously reported “death” was actually staged — and he then appeared in the flesh.
Several bounce up and down whooping and clapping, while others cover their mouths in stunned silence.
Babchenko — a war reporter who fled Russia last year over fears for his life — was reported shot dead on Tuesday. But at the press conference, he revealed it was all a ruse set up by local police to foil Kremlin-backed hitmen out to kill him for real.
