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Lavrov criticizes West’s silence about US journalist Lira’s death in Ukraine

Russia’s top diplomat noted that instead of hearing frank comments that condemn the West’s alleged assassination of the journalist, the talk is only "about Russia’s aggression and further assurances to back up the Kiev regime"

UNITED NATIONS, January 22. /TASS/. Western democracies prefer to keep quiet and turn a blind eye to the Kiev’s regime’s crimes in the wake of American journalist and blogger Gonzalo Lira’s death in a Ukrainian prison, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.

Earlier this month, the US Department of State confirmed reports that reporter and blogger Gonzalo Lira had died in a Ukrainian prison.

"Did anyone in the West, particularly in the United States, come out with a proper statement [at the state level] here? The answer is certainly ‘No.’ Even today, Western delegations and representatives of the Kiev regime are unlikely to find the courage to make any comments in regard to this monstrous crime on behalf of [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky and his clique," Lavrov added.

Russia’s top diplomat added that instead of hearing frank comments that condemn the West’s alleged assassination of the journalist, the talk is only "about Russia’s aggression and further assurances to back up the Kiev regime."

In October 2023, Lira fell ill with bilateral pneumonia while in jail. This follows from a note the journalist wrote, provided by his father Gonzalo Lira Sr. to the American news outlet The Grayzone.

Lira Sr. previously published a photo of the note. According to the journalist’s father, the prison administration ignored the fact of his son’s illness and tried to hide it from the journalist's family and lawyers. Lira Sr. demanded that the American Embassy in Kiev intervene in the situation. However, according to him, the diplomatic mission made no efforts in this direction.

Last spring, Russia urged the global journalistic community to come to the defense of Lira, who was abducted by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), and demand his immediate release. The SBU detained the blogger in Kharkov in May 2023 for supporting Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.

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