- Sputnik International, 1920, 25.02.2022
Russia's Special Operation in Ukraine
On February 24, 2022 Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people's republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev's forces.

Where is Gonzalo Lira? Fears for YouTuber Missing in Ukraine's Kharkov

© AP Photo / Felipe Dana / Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) servicemen enter a building during an operation to arrest suspected Russian collaborators in Kharkiv, UkraineSecurity Service of Ukraine (SBU) servicemen enter a building during an operation to arrest suspected "Russian collaborators" in Kharkov, Ukraine
Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) servicemen enter a building during an operation to arrest suspected Russian collaborators in Kharkov, Ukraine - Sputnik International, 1920, 18.04.2022
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Gonzalo Lira, a Chilean author and former film director, travelled from Kiev to Kharkov after the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine to report on the situation there. He has said that Ukrainian secret police had twice attempted to abduct him at different locations, but he escaped.
Fans of a video blogger critical of anti-Russian propaganda fear for his life after contact with him was lost in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov.
Gonzalo Lira, who formerly posted videos on YouTube as "Coach Red Pill", was due to appear on British dissident broadcaster George Galloway's Mother of All Talk Shows (MOATS) webcast on Sunday evening.
However, Galloway revealed that his guest had not been heard from since Friday, when the appearance was booked.

"It's with great regret and even greater sense of concern and anxiety and more, that I have to tell you that there is still no sign of our first guest Gonzalo Lira", Galloway said on his Sunday programme.

"We have not been able to contact him. Over the last hours, many, many people from around the world have been messaging me saying that it is some time since they heard from Gonzalo Lira, some time since he answered any personal messages", he continued. "It is a matter of grave concern, close to an emergency, that this brave man, a Chilean citizen... may be in grave danger in Kharkov".

Lira had "brought us, right from the front line, the truth as he saw it down there on the street, in and amongst the war zone in Kharkov", Galloway said, asking: "How can you possibly know that the information you are acting on is correct if you do not hear the other side of the story?"
Lira has previously said that the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) had made at least two attempts to "disappear" him, as it has done to opposition leaders, journalists, and others critical of President Volodymyr Zelensky's government. He said he escaped capture after neighbours warned him the secret police were looking for him.
In response, Lira made a point of posting at least once every 12 hours on his Twitter and Telegram accounts as proof he was alive.
Screengrab from Ukrainian Security Services video of detained Ukrainian opposition figure Viktor Medvedchuk reading a prepared text asking to be exchanged for Ukrainian troops and civilians in Mariupol. - Sputnik International, 1920, 18.04.2022
British Mercs Who Surrendered to Russia Ask Johnson to Exchange Them for Ukraine's Medvedchuk
Lira was born in Chile, but went to university in the US, where he later worked in Hollywood as a writer and occasional director. He has also stated that he has been a resident of the UK.
He travelled from his home in the capital Kiev to Kharkov following the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine to report on the situation there, staying in the apartment of unnamed friends.
Lira has posted scathing critiques of the Zelensky's leadership during the conflict and of US foreign policy toward the Ukraine, Russia, China, and other countries, along with deconstructions of pro-Ukrainian propaganda videos and "false-flag" attacks. His last YouTube post was an interview with former US weapons inspector Scott Ritter, a prominent critic of Washington.
A recent hit-piece against Lira by The Daily Beast sought to portray him as a "pro-Putin shill in Ukraine".
In a video mocking the article, Lira noted that the piece's author Mark Hay wrote that he had contacted the Kiev regime to ask if they believed he was hiding out in Kharkov — and pointed out that it could be an attempt to alert the authorities to his whereabouts and activities.
Poignantly, Lira would begin his livestream YouTube broadcasts by asking viewers to type the comment "where is Tiffany Dover" to check they were receiving him. Dover is a US nurse who famously fainted in front of a TV camera after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Claims of her subsequent inactivity on social media prompted viral conspiracy theories that she had died.
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