Arkady Babchenko

Arkady Arkadyevich Babchenko (Аркадий Аркадьевич Бабченко; born 18 March 1977 ) is a Russian print and television journalist.

Babchenko was born in 1977 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR.

One of his grandfathers was born in Henichesk, Ukrainian SSR.

His maternal grandmother is Jewish.

From 1995, Babchenko served in the communication corps in the North Caucasus while participating in the First Chechen War.

He later volunteered for six months during the Second Chechen War.

In 1995, while studying law in Moscow aged 18, Babchenko was conscripted into the Russian army and served until 2000 in the North Caucasus.

He served in the communication corps in the First Chechen War and later volunteered for six months during the Second Chechen War.

In June 2022, Facebook banned Babchenko's account, with Babchenko saying in a post that he believed his strong reaction to Russian shelling of a mall in Ukraine led to the ban.

After leaving the army in 2000 he worked as a war correspondent for more than a decade.

After leaving the armed forces in 2000, Babchenko worked as a war correspondent for more than a decade, including for Moskovskij Komsomolets and Zabytyi Polk.

Between 2002/2003 and 2006, the literary magazine Novy Mir published Babchenko's account of his experiences as a soldier in Chechnya, in a series of chapters titled "Ten Episodes About the War".

Novy Mir also published his short story "Alkhan-Yurt" (named after the Alkhan-Yurt massacre).

In 2006 he published the book One Soldier's War, about his experiences in Chechnya.

"Ten Episodes About the War" was published in book form by Eksmo in 2006 as Alkhan-Yurt. It was translated and published in English as One Soldier's War.

In March 2012, in an act of political persecution, a criminal case was initiated in Russia against Babchenko for "making public calls for mass riots" because of the publication of a post about the possible tactics of For Fair Elections movement protesters.

In December 2016 Babchenko wrote on Facebook that he had "no sympathy, no pity" for members of the Alexandrov Ensemble choir and pro-government journalists who died in the 2016 Tu-154 plane crash near Sochi en route to Syria.

Speaking to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Russian Service, Babchenko said that "we must be in one line; we must express sadness; we must appear sad – and anyone who doesn't must be destroyed."

Previously in Kyiv, vocal critics of Vladimir Putin, journalist Pavel Sheremet and politician Denis Voronenkov, had been assassinated in 2016.

Babchenko's wife said she knew her husband's death would be staged.

The SBU also said it had detained a Ukrainian suspect (allegedly recruited by a Russian intelligence official), and an accomplice, who was engaged in preparations for the contract killing of Babchenko.

The alleged assassin was reported to be helping the SBU with its investigation.

According to SBU head Vasyl Hrytsak, those who had wanted to assassinate Babchenko had been planning to kill 30 people in Ukraine.

The SBU claimed to have discovered this plot when one of the men approached to kill Babchenko revealed the plot to the security services.

Since 2017 he has worked as a presenter for the (Kyiv based) TV channel ATR.

In a piece published by The Guardian on 24 February 2017, Babchenko claimed that in this Facebook post: "I did not call for anything or insult anyone. I just reminded my readers that Russia was indiscriminately bombing Aleppo, without recognising that dozens of children were dying in those bombs, their photographs making their way around the world."

In the backlash, his home address was revealed to the public, he then received personal threats and some people called for him to be stripped of his Russian citizenship.

Babchenko and his family fled Russia in February 2017, moving first to Prague.

He subsequently moved to Kyiv with his family and started working as a presenter for the Kyiv-based Crimean TV channel ATR.

It was reported on 29 May 2018 that Babchenko had been shot dead in his home in Kyiv, Ukraine.

The next day, he appeared in person at a press conference with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

The SBU said it staged Babchenko's murder in order to arrest assassins allegedly recruited by Russian security services.

International media reported on 29 May 2018 that Babchenko was assassinated as he returned to his apartment in Kyiv.

In a press statement, the Kyiv Police stated that Babchenko possibly could have been killed as a reprisal for his work as a journalist.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman claimed Russia was responsible for the assassination.

The head of Russia's Federal Security Service, Alexander Bortnikov, denied the involvement of Russia.

The next day, Babchenko appeared alive and well on live Ukrainian television at a press conference held by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

Babchenko had collaborated with the SBU for a month, conducting a secret operation.

According to the SBU, the murder had been staged to expose Russian agents.

In April 2019 he said that he was permanently banned from Facebook.