Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has arrested Gonzalo Lira—a twin citizen of the United States and Chile, who has been residing in Kharkiv—on expenses of producing pro-Russian propaganda.
Lira, a prolific and controversial on-line character, is accused of creating and disseminating supplies that justify Putin’s armed aggression towards Ukraine. He is going through the chance of being imprisoned for 5 to eight years.
Lira, a former on-line courting coach, was arrested on May 1 at his residence in Kharkiv, based on two sources aware of the investigation. Ukrainian authorities declare that the search of his house revealed extra proof of his illegal actions, together with information discovered on his cellular phone and his laptop.
The SBU introduced on Friday that an unnamed overseas blogger had been arrested and the Kharkiv prosecutor’s office posted a blurred video of Lira on its YouTube channel. The Daily Beast has obtained an extended model of the footage, which reveals the arrest and raid on his house.
Lira was charged below article 436-2 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, components 2 and 3, pertaining to wartime propaganda. He will stay in jail because the case strikes ahead, and an lively investigation continues to be underway.
An SBU spokesperson mentioned that after the beginning of the full-scale invasion, “the blogger was one of the first to support the Russian invaders and glorify their war crimes… Additionally, in his comments he disputed the details of Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian cities and mass murders of civilians.”
Lira is a blogger, who made a transition from providing sleazy “dating coach” recommendation to males as “Coach Red Pill,” to offering propaganda fodder for the Russian state media that eagerly picked up and disseminated his a number of dispatches from Ukraine. In his movies, Lira insulted the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, and described Ukrainians defending their land from Russian invaders as “armed criminals.” Ukrainian authorities allege that Lira filmed Ukrainian troopers, making a particular effort to seize their likeness and trying to discredit their army service.
Lira additionally charted his efforts to observe American reporters masking the battle in Ukraine, describing them as “system pig journalists” and revealing their whereabouts in specific hotels. Lira commented: “They’re here to report how they led Ukraine up the garden path and now Ukraine is f’d! These are the people pushing the narrative, so you can see them. See them real good!”
American journalist Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, who’s at present serving in Ukraine’s Armed Forces, mentioned she is slated to be one of the witnesses in the legal case towards Lira. She advised The Daily Beast, “This justice has been a long time coming. Obviously, when I was accused by Maria Zakharova and the Russian MFA of being complicit in Gonzalo Lira’s disappearance last year, it set off a lynch mob of his supporters accusing me of murder. His arrest this week shows that Ukrainian officials don’t bow to popular pressure when a factual investigation leads to the truth.”
Ashton-Cirillo added, “I’ve already given my sworn statement to SBU about Gonzalo Lira several months ago and expect to be called as a witness in his prosecution.”
Lira blamed Ukraine for being attacked by Russia, describing the continuing struggle as “one of the most brilliant invasions in military history.” He defended Putin’s motives, claiming that the Russians had been taking particular pains to keep away from damaging civilian infrastructure or harming civilians and predicting that Ukraine would flourish below Russia’s management.
He disseminated a quantity of debunked conspiracy theories, together with Russian allegations of finding “American bioweapons labs” in Ukraine. Sources concerned in the investigation say that Lira’s look on The Donbass Devushka’s present prompted extra scrutiny of Lira’s actions, which had been being monitored after his questioning and launch final 12 months.
The on-line character posted a slew of movies and commentary on YouTube, Telegram, and Twitter, trying to pin the blame on Ukraine for the strikes carried out by the Russian Federation. Russian state TV touted his video blogs as priceless reporting by an unbiased observer, featuring them on various shows and praising his efforts. Lira’s YouTube and Telegram following exceeded a mixed 300,000 subscribers.