MOSCOW, August 8. /TASS/. The Security Service of Ukraine has registered a murder case, launched in connection with US journalist Gonzalo Lira’s death in a pretrial facility in Kharkov, opposition lawmaker Alexander Dubinsky said.

"Under the pressure from the judge, the SBU has ultimately registered the Gonzalo Lira murder case," he wrote on Telegram.

In his words, SBU chief Vasily Malyuk refuses to recognize that the journalist was subjected to torture and extortion while in custody.

Earlier, Dubinsky claimed that Lira was beaten to death while in custody in Kharkov by SBU officers.

On February 19, US entrepreneur Elon Musk blamed Vladimir Zelensky for the murder of American journalist and blogger Gonzalo Lira.

The reporter was detained in Kharkov in May 2023. He was accused of supporting the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. In October 2023, Lira fell ill with bilateral pneumonia. According to the journalist's father, the prison administration ignored the fact of his illness and tried to hide it from Lira's family and lawyers. In January 2024, the US Department of State confirmed the accuracy of the data about Lira's death in custody in Ukraine.