Suspect in case of Russian journalist who faked his own death denies plot
Source: ABC News
Prosecutors at the Shevchensky District court on Tuesday accused Borys Herman of arranging the alleged murder plot on behalf of Russian intelligence, alleging that he had hired a Ukrainian hitman to kill Babchenko in return for $40,000.
Ukraine’s SBU security service got wind of the alleged plot and then conceived the elaborate sting operation with Babchenko in which they pretended that the assassination had been successful.
The hoax was believed around the world, including by Babchenko’s friends and colleagues, and the international media. But less than 24 hours later, Babchenko stunningly reappeared alive and announced it had all been a ruse, an elaborate simulation in which he had been smeared with pig's blood and even taken to the morgue in an effort to fool the Russian-sponsored killers.
On Tuesday, Herman denied that he had planned to kill Babchenko and claimed he had been working with Ukraine's security services. He said he had been contacted by someone close to the Kremlin about plans to kill Babchenko but that he instead turned this information over to the Ukrainian authorities and worked on counter-intelligence operations with them, Reuters reported.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/International/suspect-case-russian-journalist-faked-death-denies-plot/story?id=55585477