The events which followed could only be staged in a badly written Bollywood movie. Within a day, Arkady Babchenko walks into a police press conference with the Ukrainian security service. The reporters were told that the agency had faked Babchenko’s death to catch people who were trying to kill him. Apparently ever Babchenko’s wife didn’t know about it.
I am pretty sure most people bought into the explanation given by the Ukrainian security service. Here is my problem with it. They are asking everyone to believe the second point because they have accepted the first point is a lie. Here is the fallacy in simple terms.
I said A.
I admit A is false. (Therefore, I speak the truth.)
Now, I say B .
B is true. (Because I speak only the truth).
I don’t want to fall into the trap of ‘once a liar, always a liar’. However, it is also not prudent to not doubt the second message, once I come to know that the first one was a lie. Further, Ukraine could have saved face had its Prime Minister and Foreign Minister not accused Russia of the murder. What it does is help Russia use this excuse in the future. It reminds me of the ‘Boy who cried Wolf’ kid’s story. One can’t make this mistake at such a high level. It degrades diplomacy to a new low. So, all Ukraine has managed here is to give Russia a PR boost.
Demystifying a skeptic's world 