Gonzalo Lira is a journalist, YouTube personality, and ‘manosphere’ writer going by the name “Coach Red Pill.” Lira also had an active Telegram channel.
Lira, a Chilean-American who moved to Ukraine several years before the war, happened to be in Kiev at the time of the invasion.
Lira made many videos criticizing Ukraine President Zelensky and the tactics of the Ukrainian forces, including their neo-Nazi elements. He also criticized NATO’s provocations that caused the war. Lira claimed he had the opportunity to leave Ukraine but chose to stay and report that which was being suppressed in the western media.
Reports were that he had gone missing. He has since emerged and said that he was arrested and held by Ukrainian forces, who took all of his electronics including his phone and laptop.
This arrest came after the Daily Beast ran a shameless hit piece on Lira last month under the byline “Mark Hay.”