"I am surprised by the statements of many international organizations saying how come we misinformed the public. Did you want Babchenko killed?… From now on, the Ukrainian special services and law enforcement agencies will not be guided by public opinion about them. If there was such an opportunity on all other high-profile cases which occur, we would do the same in each case," Avakov told reporters.
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On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the fact that Babchenko was alive "the best news," adding that the SBU operation was used for the purposes of propaganda. Reporters Without Borders Secretary-General Christophe Deloire, in turn, condemned the operation, arguing that it was used as means of information warfare.