Report: American Journalist Gonzalo Lira Has Died While Imprisoned In Ukraine

By Thomas Schumacher

Jan 12, 2024 | 1:29 PM

American Journalist Gonzalo Lira –

WASHINGTON DC (WSAU) – 55-year-old American journalist Gonzalo Lira has reportedly died in a Ukrainian prison after nearly eight months of imprisonment.

According to the Post Millennial, Lira was arrested by Ukrainian security in May 2023 after he was reportedly critical of President Vladimir Zelensky’s handling of the war being fought against Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine.

Lira’s comments included claims that Ukraine’s efforts to win the captured territory back have gone nowhere and their people are dying for a war that is already lost.

Lira’s father, Gonzalo Lira Sr., provided a statement on his son’s death to The Grayzone, saying, “I cannot accept the way my son has died. He was tortured, extorted, and incommunicado for 8 months and 11 days, and the US Embassy did nothing to help my son. The responsibility of this tragedy is the dictator Zelensky, with the concurrence of a senile American president, Joe Biden.”

Ukrainian officials stated in a press release when Lira was initially arrested that he was “one of the first to support the Russian invaders and glorify their war crimes.” They stated that he had “engaged in discrediting the top military and political leadership and the defense forces of our state.”

According to the BBC, which spoke to a Ukrainian soldier on the frontlines in December, Lira’s comments appear to have contained some truth, as Russian forces have repelled numerous Ukrainian counter-offensive attempts, which have depleted large portions of their experienced fighting force. The soldier stated the troops feel left behind at this point, saying, “No one knows the goals. Many believe that the command simply abandoned us. The guys believe that our presence has more political than military significance. But we just did our job and didn’t get into strategy.”

When asked by the outlet to describe in detail how bad their manpower shortage has become, the soldier stated, “There are a lot of young guys among us. We need people, but trained people, not the green ones we have there now. There are guys who have spent just three weeks in training and only managed to shoot a few times.”

The BBC reported that the Ukrainian force’s ability to man the frontlines could soon end as over 20,000 men have fled Ukraine since the start of the war, which has led Ukraine to only secure small victories in recent months, which included the recapture of small pieces of territory that were strategically abandoned by Russian forces.

Report: American Journalist Gonzalo Lira Has Died While Imprisoned In Ukraine