Russian journalist and Putin critic, Arkady Babchenko, shot and killed in Kiev

[fpro]

totes off topic, but didn't pootin' putin say he wouldnt consider continuing being supreme overlord in 2020?
i wonder what nefarious reason is behind that decision.

[Kecske]

Somehow I cannot fathom that faking his death for one day, then letting the whole world pick up this story was absolutely necessary in regards to his safety.

I'm not the only one asking this question either, the two largest independent press advocacy groups are fuming about this. [RSF, CPJ]
And why wouldn't they?
With the public trust in mainstream media as low as ever, states creating fake news to spread (even with good intentions at heart) is not something we should encourage at all.
Not to mention with a move like this Ukraine unoavoidably undermines their own credibility too.

So unless they manage to provide some convincing explanation that there was really no other way to protect his life, I'd regard this as a dumb and ultimately harmful stunt that plays into the hand of the Russian media than anything else.

[BlackPhoenix]

It would not have relevance to protecting his life, but it would have significance in finding who ordered the assassination - gotta make it seem like things went well to see who the intermediate would report success to.

[🦇Pachira🦇]

Where did he say anything about ukrainian neo nazis?

[karimatrix]

And did it succeed?
Got any incredible revelation about a guy that "supposedly" ordered a hit?
Cause He's Ukranian that was selling arms to... Ukranian army!

[smurfy]

Babchenko's "killer" has told his side of the story about how he was hired and how they faked it

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-44428078

"I finished my soup, called a taxi and I went to kill Babchenko," he tells me with a smile.
"[At the apartment, Babchenko] was lying on the floor in a pool of blood waiting for the ambulance to arrive. I wished him good health and he asked that I not make him laugh."
With that brief exchange over, Mr Tsymbaliuk left to a safe house where he watched news of the murder emerge on social media.
Later that night, he sent a message to Mr Herman telling him that "the parasitic worm is dealt with" and in the early hours of the morning a reply came through that they should meet.

[gdfsgdfg]

https://i.imgur.com/HbOkzUP.png