A billionaire entrepreneur, Elon Musk, a key ally and employee of US President Donald Trump, has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of being responsible for the death of a US citizen who had criticized the US government.
Gonzalo Lira, a Chilean-US film maker and blogger, died in a Ukrainian prison in January 2024 while awaiting trial on charges of “systematic justification of Russian aggression.” Lira, who had settled in Ukraine in 2010, reported on YouTube about the conflict with Russia. In 2023, he was arrested by the Ukrainian secret service after he failed to meet bail conditions and had applied for asylum in Hungary. He claimed to have been tortured in custody.
His family accused the Ukrainian authorities of being complicit in Lira’s death, a claim the Ukrainian authorities denied. Lira’s father suggested in December 2023 that the Biden administration had at least tacitly approved his son’s arrest.
Musk targeted Zelensky in a public spat between the Ukrainian president and Trump. On Wednesday, he wrote on the X platform: “Zelensky has killed an American journalist.”
In a further post, he stated: “Zelensky cannot claim to represent the will of the Ukrainian people as long as he does not restore press freedom and abolishes elections.”
The conflict between Trump and Zelensky arose after several Ukrainian and EU representatives criticized Trump for conducting direct negotiations with Russia without their consent. Trump labeled Zelensky a “dictator without elections” and claimed the Ukrainian president was unpopular in Ukraine. Zelensky, in turn, accused Trump of spreading Russian disinformation.
Zelensky’s five-year term ended in May 2024, but no new elections were held due to the war law. Russian President Vladimir Putin subsequently declared he no longer recognized Zelensky as a legitimate head of state. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov recently confirmed that Moscow would bring up Zelensky’s legitimacy in future peace talks.