Heading towards World War III?

Chilean-American blogger Gonzalo Lira was last heard from in Ukraine almost a week ago. He was reporting from the city of Kharkov and has been a critic of President Volodymyr Zelensky and of Kiev's conduct during the conflict.

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Lira, a Chilean-American author and movie maker who used to work in Hollywood, was to appear on former UK MP George Galloway's radio show Mother of All Talk Shows (MOATS) on Sunday, but ended up missing the program.

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Lira has been living in Ukraine for the last several years. After the start of the Russian military operation, he moved from capital Kiev to Kharkov in the east of the country to do his reporting from there.

The 54-year-old has been a staunch critic of Zelensky and Ukraine's conduct during the conflict, speaking about far-right tendencies among the Ukrainian military and debunking what he saw as false reports by Kiev about events on the ground. He was active on YouTube, posting under the nickname ‘Coach Red Pill,’ as well as on Telegram and Twitter.

According to Lira, both the Ukrainian authorities and the radicals have been increasingly unhappy with his reporting. He had earlier claimed that the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) had made at least two attempts to “disappear” him, but he was lucky to escape capture.

The blogger had also blamed news outlet the Daily Beast for attracting Kiev’s attention to his work and revealing his location to the law enforcers. The accusations were made in a video entitled 'The Daily Beast is trying to get me killed.'

The US outlet dedicated a large article to Lira on March 21, in which he was labeled “a Pro-Putin shill in Ukraine.” In the piece, Daily Beast journalists said they’ve contacted the Ukrainian authorities to clarify if the man was still in Kharkov.

www.rt.com/russia/554256-lira-blogger-ukraine-missing

Chilean-American blogger Gonzalo Lira, who went missing in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov a week ago, has appeared online on Friday, revealing that he had been held by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU).

“I’m in Kharkov. I’m OK. I just want to say that I’m back online.” Lira said in short video chat with journalist Alex Christoforou on The Duran channel on YouTube.

“I was picked up by the SBU on Friday, April 15,” the blogger revealed.

Speaking about his condition, the 54-year-old said that he was “fine physically,” but “a little rattled” and “a little bit discombobulated.” Lira made it clear that he was forbidden from revealing any details about what had happened to him in detention.

I’m still in Kharkov and for the time being I cannot leave. The authorities here told me that I cannot leave the city,” he said, adding that his computer and phone were taken away and that he didn’t have access to his accounts on social media.

“There seems to have been like a lot of interest in my case, which is wonderful. Thank you. But there are a lot of other people, who are frankly more deserving of the attention,” the blogger said.Lira was referring to his tweet from March 26, in which he listed the names of Ukrainian opposition figures, who are thought to have died or disappeared since the outbreak of the conflict, adding then that “if you haven’t heard from me in 12 hours or more, put my name on this list.”

www.rt.com/russia/554321-lira-blogger-ukraine-released

A court in Moscow has fined Google's parent company Alphabet Inc for failing to remove contentious videos.

The US tech giant was handed two fines totalling 11m roubles ($135,000; £155,000) for "administrative violations". The Tagansky District Court in Moscow said the company had distributed inaccurate data about Russian troop losses and civilian casualties in Ukraine, according to TASS news agency.

One of the videos was said to show a phone conversation between Russian soldiers and their relatives back home. The troops were said to be complaining of casualties in their ranks.

Some foreign social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, have been blocked in Russia. YouTube, however, remains available.

Russia's communications watchdog has previously said it would take steps to punish Google for "spreading fakes" on YouTube, and had warned the US company it would be fined if it failed to comply.

Google has faced action from Russia before. It was fined 7.2bn roubles ($90m; £70m) roubles in December 2021 for failure to delete content deemed illegal in Russia.

www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-61185469

Turkey wants to negotiate an end to the conflict in Ukraine, while some other NATO members would like to see it drag on as a way to harm Russia, Ankara’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday in a TV interview. In a lengthy appearance on CNN Turk, Cavusoglu addressed Turkey’s decision not to sanction Moscow and why the Istanbul talks between Russia and Ukraine failed, among other things.

“There are countries within NATO that want the Ukraine war to continue. They see the continuation of the war as weakening Russia. They don’t care much about the situation in Ukraine,” Cavusoglu said.

While he did not name any names, US President Joe Biden said earlier this month that the conflict in Ukraine “could continue for a long time,” which was echoed by the former CIA chief of Russian operations.

www.rt.com/russia/554248-turkey-ukraine-talks-sanctions

Russia has not received any answers from Ukraine to its most recent peace proposals, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters on Friday, adding that Kiev is conveying the impression that it isn't interested in a diplomatic solution to the ongoing military conflict.

His words came two days after Moscow said it had forwarded a “draft document” on a settlement, with concrete wording. Kiev confirmed it had received the document and was reviewing it. However, at the time, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated he had not seen anything containing proposals from Moscow.

Lavrov questioned Kiev’s position on the talks during a joint press-conference with his Kazakh counterpart, Mukhtar Tileuberdi. It was “very strange” for him to hear statements from Kiev, including those by aides to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, that “suggest they do not need these talks at all,” Lavrov added.

www.rt.com/russia/554336-ukraine-talks-deadlock

Ukrainian troops and members of the nationalist Azov battalion, who remain besieged in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, can still surrender to the Russian military, the Defense Ministry said on Friday.

A day earlier, Russia announced the capture of Mariupol, with President Vladimir Putin calling off the assault on Azovstal, which remains the last holdout of the Ukrainian forces in the strategic port city. Russian troops should “seal the area so that a fly cannot get through,” Putin ordered.

In its fresh statement, the Defense Ministry pointed out that the offer to surrender to those inside the facility remained in place. “At any given moment, Russia is ready to introduce a ceasefire and announce a humanitarian pause in order to stage the evacuation of civilians (if they’re really staying in the underground structures of the steel plant) and troops of the Ukrainian armed forces and nationalist battalions.”

The commander of the Ukrainian marines, holed up at the plant, had earlier claimed that “hundreds” of civilians were trapped in there. He didn’t explain why the people would voluntarily decide to hide out together with Ukrainian troops, who are targeted by Russian forces.

The Ukrainian fighters and foreign mercenaries only need to raise white flags along the perimeter of Azovstal to be able to surrender. “This humanitarian offer by Russia remains in force 24/7,” according to the statement.

The lives of those, who lay down their arms, are guaranteed to be spared, and they will also be provided with medical assistance - just like the Ukrainian combatants, who chose to stop resisting earlier, the Russian side insisted.

www.rt.com/russia/554335-ukraine-mariupol-azovstal-surrender

The office of the prosecutor general of Ukraine charged Stolbovoy, alleging that he “chose to side with the enemy” when the Russian military took control of Balakleya on March 28. He agreed to continue as mayor under the “occupation regime” and accepted humanitarian aid from Russian troops, the prosecutors said.

At a town council meeting that day, the mayor championed “loyalty to both the occupation troops and the Russian Federation in general,” the prosecutor said. Later he “convened a meeting of local citizens and told them the Russian military would be distributing humanitarian aid and also that negotiations were underway with the occupiers” to re-establish public utilities in the city.

Balakleya is a town of some 25,000 residents in the Izyum county, about 90km southeast of Kharkov. It came under the control of Russian troops in late March.

During the recent fighting near the town, Russian troops reportedly captured the 65th Arsenal of the Ukrainian military – the largest ammunition depot in all of Ukraine, designed to store at least 150,000 tons of supplies. Much of it was left behind intact, several Russian media correspondents reported on Friday.

www.rt.com/russia/554349-mayor-balakleya-treason-ukraine

Russia aims to seize southern Ukraine and to open a route to the separatist region of Transnistria in Moldova, a senior Russian general says.

Maj Gen Rustam Minnekayev specified that Moscow would seek to take "full control" over the south in addition to the eastern Donbas region - the stated objective of the Russian authorities.

Transnistria is a small Russian-backed region that borders Ukraine.

It is unclear if Gen Minnekayev's comments were officially sanctioned.

www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61188943