How Gonzalo Lira's death is used to cover up Russian crimes
In April 2025, Russian activist Yulia Latynina, who positions herself as an opposition politician but in fact systematically promotes Kremlin narratives, compared the murder of journalist Victoria Roshchyna in Russian captivity to the death of American pro-Russian blogger Gonzalo Lira in a Ukrainian detention center.
Texty.org.ua noticed that Latynina is not the first to respond to Russia's blatant accusations with the method "whataboutism." This is one of the classic manipulation techniques we described in our project here (we studied language manipulation techniques).
So, we decided to find out how Russia's foreign supporters used Gonzalo Lira's death.
We took 70 X-bloggers from our project "Roller Coaster", which studied personalities promoting Russian narratives in the United States, as well as popular pro-Russian bloggers on the X social network from other countries that were not included in our previous studies, and looked at what they wrote about Lira and when.
Who is Gonzalo Lira?
A Chilean-American blogger died in a Ukrainian detention center in January 2024 from pneumonia. He repeatedly spread propaganda narratives about Ukraine. So far, unlike the story of Roshchyna, which has been described in detail by 12 leading media outlets from different countries, there is no reliable evidence that Lira was tortured or killed.
Before he moved to Ukraine, Gonzalo Lira spread hatred and stereotypes about women on his blog. Due to this, he became popular among right-wing bloggers who were concerned with feminist issues.
By the way, he moved to Ukraine because he was allegedly disappointed in Western women. Lyra claimed that in poorer countries, there is an "unregulated sexual market," and it is much easier to find a woman there. Since 2017, he has lived in Kharkiv with his Ukrainian wife and earned money by conducting online seminars with relationship advice.
According to Wikipedia, at the beginning of the invasion, he took a pro-Russian position and even denied Russian crimes in Bucha. Lyra's trial lasted a long time. He was released from jail on bail and tried to escape to Hungary on a motorcycle. After that, he was imprisoned again. He was scheduled for surgery in the pre-trial detention center.
"It all started in mid-October, but the prison ignored it. They recognized that I had pneumonia only at the hearing on December 22. I am going to undergo a procedure to reduce the swelling in my lungs, which causes me extreme shortness of breath to the point where I can faint after minimal activity or just talking for two minutes," Gonzalo Lira wrote.
Zelensky killed an American journalist!
Let's go back two months. In February 2025, American President Donald Trump calls President Zelensky a dictator. It is not surprising that his supporters and the entire pro-Trump media machine began to write in support of their leader. But the story of Gonzalo Lira immediately surfaced.
First, almost immediately after Trump's statement, one of Trump's most vocal supporters, Elon Musk, wrote on his X account: "Zelensky cannot claim to represent the will of the people of Ukraine unless he restores press freedom and stops canceling elections!"
Forty minutes later, Musk reposts a post by a joke community that suddenly decides to write a post that is not at all joking but about the "murder" of Lyra in Ukraine. Elon Musk adds his own words: "Zelensky killed an American journalist!"
The next day, the number of mentions of Gonzalo Lira on the web increases rapidly. He is mentioned by journalist Tucker Carlson, who has interviewed Putin and repeatedly spread pro-Russian narratives. He is joined by Jack Posobiec, an American activist who opposed aid to Ukraine, popular investor and blogger David Sachs, who also spread fake news about Ukrainian Nazis and a bunch of anonymous communities and accounts with several hundred thousand followers each.
The 70 accounts we selected for the study had repeatedly spread pro-Russian narratives, such as the illegitimate Zelenskyy regime, Ukrainian Nazis, and outright lies about US biological laboratories in Ukraine, even before Lira's death.
However, they only use the case of Gonzalo Lira's death in exceptional moments, and the case of Trump is not the only one.
Navalny's death
As in Latynina's post about the tortured Ukrainian journalist, after Navalny's death, Russia's supporters used the "whataboutism" technique on a massive scale. Interestingly, when Lyra died, there were fewer mentions of him than when Navalny died (64 mentions versus 73).
On the day of the Russian politician's death, dozens of far-right bloggers, journalists, and influencers published posts mentioning Lyra. For example, a well-known US political commentator, Jackson Hinkle, who, according to Texty.org.ua, repeated Russian propaganda, calling Navalny a terrorist, wrote the following about Lyra:
"The American government simply did not care when American journalist Gonzalo Lira died in a Ukrainian prison."
Some X-bloggers disseminated information about Gonzalo Lira in the period after Navalny's death with dozens of posts and comments. For example, right-wing American influencer Mike Cernovich, who has 1.4 million followers on X, created more than 40 posts in a week. In them, he accuses Ukraine and Zelenskyy himself of kidnapping and murder and writes about Biden's indecision.
Malaysian far-right journalist Yang Miles Chong, who has more than 1.2 million followers, compared Cernovich, Lira, and Navalny in his posts. Before that, he repeatedly spread conspiracy theories and was involved in fake campaigns against Ukraine.
The Russian trail
Some of those we have studied in this article are a direct part of the Russian propaganda machine and work as journalists on the side of the Russian Federation, as Gonzalo Lira himself did.
The statements of direct Russian propagandists coincide with what the foreign chorus of Russia's supporters is singing.
For example, on February 24, 2024, eight days after Navalny's death, Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Nebenzya, also used the "whataboutism" technique, accusing the "Kyiv regime" of Gonzalo Lira's death in response to his American colleague's words about Navalny.
In Russia, Lira was made into a martyr who allegedly gave his life for freedom of speech and press. For example, in September 2024, the Russian authorities set up a stand outside the American Embassy in Moscow with the words: "Freedom of speech is a threat to American democracy! Gonzalo Lira".
A stand with a photo of Gonzalo Lira near the American Embassy in Moscow
American pro-Russian journalist Jackson Hinkle at the “memorial” to Gonzalo Lira in Moscow
In addition, Gonzalo Lira became part of the propaganda series of exhibitions, "Died for the Truth," about alleged journalists and bloggers, in fact, propagandists because there was no free press in Russia who died during the Russian-Ukrainian war. It was held in some world cities (Belgrade, Ankara, Alexandria, etc.) with the support of Russian cultural centers in Russia itself and the so-called LDNR.
Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, and others, along with official Russian structures, exploit the name of Gonzalo Lira on the Internet, but have never mentioned the Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who was tortured by Russians. Most of those who talk about Gonzalo Lira in the context of political events that discredit Russia have almost never mentioned him before.
P. S. According to Texty.org.ua, the death of Gonzalo Lira in the Ukrainian detention center is a blatant case of irresponsibility of the staff. He should have been tried and sentenced. Those who did not provide medical care in time (the operation was planned, but Lira died earlier, as mentioned above) should be held accountable. After all, this case has caused and is causing great damage to Ukraine as a democratic state in which rights are respected.
