A prominent Russian journalist and critic of President Vladimir Putin was shot dead in Ukraine where he had fled into exile following threats, Ukrainian police said on Tuesday.
Police reported that Babchenko, 41, succumbed to his wounds and passed away in an ambulance while on way to the hospital. He was found bleeding by his wife in their house.
Police added they suspected the murder was due to Babchenko’s professional activities.
Babchenko, a former soldier in the Chechen war who became one of Russia’s best-known war correspondents, had left his homeland fearing for his life after criticising Russian policy in Ukraine and Syria, Reuters reported.
He had been denounced by pro-government politicians in Russia over comments on social media about the Russian bombing of Aleppo in Syria’s war, and over his characterisation of Russia as an aggressor towards Ukraine.
“The first and the most probable version is his professional activity,” Kiev police chief Andriy Kryshchenko said at a televised press briefing when asked what police suspected lay behind the murder, Reuters added.
Babchenko’s wife is in a state of shock and police are unable to speak to her, he said. Ukrainian authorities released a drawing of the man they suspect is Babchenko’s assassin, around 40-45 years old, with a grey beard and wearing a cap.
According to AFP, Russian authorities furiously denied the blame, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying it was "very sad" Moscow had been accused of murdering the reporter.
"The Ukrainian prime minister is already talking about how it was done by Russian secret services," he said.
"This fashion of conducting international affairs is very sad," Lavrov told reporters.
The Investigative Committee of Russia said it had opened a criminal case into Babchenko’s death.
