A Russian journalist critical of President Vladimir Putin appeared at a press conference in Ukraine on Wednesday after being declared dead on Tuesday.

The Associated Press reports Arkady Babchenko attended the event in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, where the head of the Ukrainian Security Service, Vasily Gritsak, revealed that the agency faked Babchenko's death in an effort to find the individuals who were trying to kill him.

One person was reportedly captured in the operation.

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Babchenko thanked everyone who mourned his supposed death, according to the news service.

Authorities announced on Tuesday that Babchenko's wife discovered him with gunshot wounds at their apartment and he died en route to a Kiev hospital.

Police told The Moscow Times on Tuesday that Babchenko's work was the likely motive for the killing.

Babchenko left Russia last year after he said he received a slew of death threats for his reporting.

He moved to Kiev, where he worked for a Crimean television station and produced coverage critical of Russia's military actions in Ukraine.

Several of Putin's critics in press and politics have been targeted in the past.

Tatiana Felgengauer was stabbed in the neck last year but survived after an intruder attacked her television station with a knife.