A 'MURDERED' dissident journalist appeared at a press conference less than 24 hours after he was reported to have been killed by a Russian hitman in a bizarre turn of events.
Arkady Babchenko was reported to have been shot in the back when leaving his apartment in Kiev, in the Ukraine, by a Russian hitman and died in an ambulance on the way to hospital.
But he appeared this afternoon at a press conference (pictured above) held by the Ukrainian authorities who claimed that the subterfuge had been set up to flush out a Russian hitman who they believed had been paid to murder the journalist.
The head of Ukraine's security services, Vasyl Hrytsak, told reporters that they had dreamed up the ruse to catch a hitman paid by Russian forces.
Ukrainian police said they had made one arrest.
And in an astonishing revelation, Babchenko said that even his wife was left in the dark - despite reports claiming that she had found him at the entrance to their apartment block with bullet wounds in his back.
There were shocked gasps and some journalists applauded after Babchenko entered the room for the press conference and stood behind security services.
He thanked the Ukrainian security services for saving his life and said he had no choice but to take part.
"I did my job. I'm still alive," Babchenko said.
Babchenko said that he had been made aware of the plot to kill him about a month ago and had been in contact with Ukrainian security services since.
“I want to apologise that all of you had to go through that - I was at funerals of my friends and colleagues, so I know this nauseating feeling, but it was the only way out,” he said.
“Separately, I wanted to apologise to my wife for the hell she went through during these two days.”
