Gonzalo Lira Confirmed Dead in Reports

The US Department of State has confirmed the death of reporter Gonzalo Lira, a United States citizen in prison in Ukraine.

"We can confirm the death of a U.S. citizen in Ukraine. We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss," a representative of the Department of State told a TASS correspondent in response to a request to comment on the information that Lira died in jail.

"We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance. Out of respect to the family during this difficult time, we have no further comment," the official added.

Earlier US journalist Tucker Carlson said, citing Lira’s father, that the reporter, who was detained by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), has died in prison. Carlson wrote on X (former Twitter) that despite Lira’s American citizenship, the US administration "clearly supported his imprisonment and torture."

Earlier, American entrepreneur Elon Musk appealed to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky with a request to explain the arrest and detention of Lira. Musk announced his opinion on this topic in response to a publication on the social network X (formerly Twitter) by Tucker Carlson, who stated that Lira was being "tortured in a Ukrainian prison since July, for the crime criticizing Zelensky."

In the spring, Russia urged the global journalist community to speak out in defense of Lira, who was abducted by the SBU, and demand his immediate release. The blogger was detained by the SBU in Kharkov in May. He was accused of supporting Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.

The SBU insists that the journalist was arrested and given bail but after paying it Lira violated the law and purportedly attempted to flee the country on his own motorcycle via a checkpoint on the border with Hungary. According to the latest data, Lira was at a pre-trial detention facility in the city of Kharkov.

According to MFA Russia:

On May 5, we learned that the Security Service of Ukraine detained Chilean journalist and producer Gonzalo Angel Quintilio Lira Lopez. His lot remains unknown at this point.

The Latin American video blogger had been commenting on the events in Ukraine from the epicenter. He explained in detail the sources of the crisis and covered the atrocities of the Nazis, which was not to their taste once again.

This is not his first disappearance. A little more than a year ago (on April 15, 2022) he stopped contacting other people. It turned out that he was being held by Ukrainian secret services who had seized his notebooks and deprived him of access to his accounts. Then they had to release him because of the broad media coverage of his disappearance.

The Security Service of Ukraine is holding him once again, and we urge the journalist community to defend our colleague and demand his immediate release.

In the year of the 50th anniversary of the fascist state coup in Chile, we need to prevent a very similar repetition of those events in Ukraine. The coup led to the forced disappearance of thousands of Chileans, including journalists. We hope for solidarity from the Chilean authorities that consider themselves Salvador Allende’s spiritual heirs.

Musk Weighs in:

Musk questioned how it was possible that a US citizen is in prison in Ukraine after Washington had “sent over a $100 billion” to support Kiev in the conflict with Moscow.

It would be a “serious problem” if it turned out that the journalist was being persecuted for “simply criticizing Zelensky,” Musk added in December.

Previously, Lira was arrested in 2022 when his disappearance made international headlines, but last year’s arrest, according to his father, came days “after condemning Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” when he was trying to escape Ukraine.

“Why was he not detained earlier?” Lira Sr. asked. “When he was let go the previous year, he continued the same criticism against the war.”