Overview

Undead Russian Journalist refers to Arkady Babchenko, a journalist who faked his own death, allegedly to foil an assassination attempt on his life by the Russian government. After faking being dead for a day, Babchenko appeared at a press conference in Ukraine that was supposed to be about his killing. The story led to jokes on social media and condemnation from the Russian government, who called it an outlandish smear attempt.

Background

On May 29th, 2018, Kiev Police Chief Andriy Krishchenko stated that Babchenko, a noted critic of the Kremlin had died after being shot in the back by an unknown assailant.^[1] His wife had allegedly found him bleeding and Babchenko had died on the way to the hospital. The following day, Ukrainian Security Service chief Vasyl Gritsak began a press conference that was supposed to be about Babchenko's death. However, he announced that Babchenko was still alive, and then the journalist appeared before the press to applause. The operation had convinced his wife and colleagues that he was dead.

According to Gristak, the suspected organizer of the assassination attempt was detained, and that the attempt was to be part of a larger attempt to procure weapons for Russia to use against Ukraine. The faked death was employed to "flush (the suspected assailant) out," according to Gristak.

Developments

The story drew criticism from the Russian government. The Russian Foreign Ministry said the stunt was "fanning anti-Russian hysteria," similar to what followed after Russia's alleged involvement in The Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, which Russia vehemently denies. Journalists also took issue with the stunt, with some stating the deliberate spread of false information was antithetical to journalism, and could potentially set a precedent for people distrusting reports of murders.

Online Reactions

Online, Twitter users joked about the story by posting various images and clips. User @davidmackau posted a Surprise, Bitch joke about the story, gaining over 280 retweets (shown below, left). User @jane__bradley posted a Distracted Boyfriend joke about the story, gaining over 1,200 retweets (shown below, right). These jokes were covered by Twitter Moments.^[2]

Search Interest

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External References