Good morning. We'll start the live blog this morning by pointing you in the direction of this feature by RFE/RL's Christopher Miller on the staged death of Arkady Babchenko:
'What About The Blood?' Joy, Then Confusion, After Russian Journalist Turns Up Alive
KYIV -- Outside the apartment where Arkady Babchenko wasn’t killed, people wept as though he was.
They brought flowers to a makeshift memorial to honor the famed Russian reporter who was, in fact, not dead.
But they hadn’t been told that yet. Nobody had.
Ukrainian security officials had announced late on May 29 that Babchenko, a fierce critic of the Kremlin and a veteran Russian war correspondent, had been killed -- shot three times in the back as he returned to his Kyiv apartment after buying bread.
Less than 20 hours later, officials revealed he was, in fact, alive, and that his death had been staged as part of a sting to thwart an alleged assassination plot.
The initial news sent shock waves across Ukraine and Russia, where dozens of journalists have been targeted for assassination for their work. The later news that it was fake sent yet more shock waves, including for those who were still mourning Babchenko.
Read more here
That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Wednesday, May 30, 2018. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage. Thanks for reading and take care.