Updated at 11:59 a.m. ET
The Russian journalist who was said to have been killed Tuesday in Kiev, Ukraine, turned up very much alive at a news conference Wednesday.
In a wild turn of events streamed live, Arkady Babchenko was introduced to applause and gasps from the reporters in attendance.
"I'd like to apologize for everything you've had to go through," he said, according to a transcript from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. "I've been at the funeral of many friends and colleagues, and I know this nauseous feeling. Sorry for imposing this upon you, but there was no other way."
"Special apologies to my wife for the hell she's been through these two days," he added. "Olya, excuse me, please, but there was no other option."
It's not clear exactly what his wife knew. On Tuesday, Kiev police told reporters that Babchenko had been shot multiple times in the back at his apartment and had died from his injuries. His wife was said to have found him bleeding from his wounds. Police said Babchenko had been targeted because of his work.
The head of the Ukrainian Security Service, Vasyl Gritsak, said Wednesday that his agency faked Babchenko's death in order to set up a sting operation to catch those who were trying to kill him, according to The Associated Press:
Babchenko had moved to Kiev in the fall after fleeing Russia, where he was a prominent war correspondent who in recent years had become fiercely critical of the Kremlin. In Kiev, he has been a television host on Crimean Tatar network ATR.
Video shared on Twitter by Radio Free Europe's Russian service shows his ATR colleagues rejoicing in cheers and disbelief at seeing Babchenko alive. A photo of Babchenko hangs on the wall behind them.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko tweeted his congratulations to the Ukrainian Security Service and said he had given an order to provide Babchenko and his family with protection.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was glad Babchenko was alive but accused Ukraine of using his story as propaganda, Reuters reports.
Writing last year in The Guardian, Babchenko describedhow a Facebook post he had written about the Russian bombing of civilians in Aleppo, Syria, was deemed insufficiently patriotic and led to a systematic campaign against him.
In 2016, investigative journalist Pavel Sheremet was killed when a bomb exploded his car. The case is unsolved.
Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.