Why is it all important exactly? He's just another voice on some mether. You listen to him or not. It is us who filter things and ideas for ourselves. Not for someone else and we should not exspect someone else to do it for ourselves. Lira has some good ideas, and some bad. No need to love or hate him, just to listen to him with critical thinking turned on.
Agreed. I think that many people listen to him because he represents an alternative view in a coherent and knowledgeable enough manner. Not many people dig people's past, and even if they do, they accept that people can change, and what is important is what the person has to say
now. In this respect I don't see the mere fact of Lira being a pick-up artist as something alarming. And it didn't raise any alarms when I first learned of this fact.
As to why discussing his character may be important, it's because for some people he became not only "another voice". His analysis of the situation "on the ground" was coupled with a strong emotional component. The emotional component came from his viewers or readers. He was placed in a dangerous situation, speaking dangerous things. People were worried for him. And the dangerous situation escalated to the point of him disappearing. Which resulted in a very high drama until he reappeared again safe and sound.
It looks that many if not most people accepted everything at face value, and it is indeed very good that he is alive and safe. But there are some people who without even knowing his background questioned the whole story. Something wasn't right. Perhaps it was simply his personality. It's possible that some find him charming, like a good pick-up artist has to be, but for me, for example, this kind of behavior is rather off putting, so personal preferences should certainly be taken into account when trying to see if there is indeed something wrong with this picture.
At the moment I do have a feeling that I can't shake, that there is something wrong with his story, but I obviously don't have anything concrete to back it up. And just a note about the "documents" he presented to Alex from The Duran, apparently he showed the non-disclosure document to him over Zoom. That's it. Please someone correct me if I am wrong.
As for things that I found, it appears that he does live in Ukraine and probably in Kharkov. During one of the searches I saw that someone mentioned how he met with him in Odessa back in 2018. So he has been living in Ukraine for awhile.
There are videos out there that describe a Vincent Bridges type scenario. Start at the 12:50 mark of the video, to minimize the length:
In the
second part of the video you mentioned above, there is a talk about Lira "being doxxed". Or at least there was a possibility of him being doxxed. The "exposé" video is from the end of 2021, but it's hard to say when exactly Lira made it, but it clearly was before the special operation.
And as a preemptive handling, he shared with others what the "exposed facts" could be. Not going to mention all 3 (you can check the video, it begins at the
proper point), but will mention only the first fact. He said that the doxxing may expose his years long and close ties with Richard Spencer. As if Lira is some "alt-right secret agent". And in the video he explicitly admits that the close ties fact is true. Also
here's an archived screenshot from Twitter when he and Lira played some game in 2013.
For those who don't know (and I didn't know), apparently
Richard Spencer is indeed an"alt-right" activist/leader. Now, I didn't look into his persona too deeply, and a lot of things should be taken with a grain os salt, especially when liberals tend to put any Trump supporter into an alt right camp. But at least the official stance is that he is a neo-nazi and white supremacist.
After the beginning of the operation Spencer was mentioned numerously how he loves Russia and thinks that "Russia is the only real white power in the world", or something like that, Essentially, his name was used to emphasize Russia and Putin in particular being racist and evil. In the past Spencer expressed his fondness of Russian nationalistic ideas, was married to a Russian, and in general supported various neo-nazi or nationalistic interest in other countries, including Ukraine.
For example, I found this from
the article titled "Azov, Ukraine's Most Prominent Ultranationalist Group, Sets Its Sights On U.S., Europe":
In November 2017, the two [Azov activists] traveled together to Warsaw and participated in the Europe Of The Future 2 conference organized by Polish white supremacist group and "ally" Szturmowcy (Stormtroopers), where they were meant to speak alongside American Richard Spencer...But Polish authorities barred Spencer from entering the country and he was unable to attend.
This is a very interesting connection. And not only because the impression Lira gives in his recent videos that he isn't in support of similar ideas.
What also was interesting is
his video where he expressed his mistruss of Scott Ritter. Despite Ritter clearly being concerned for his safety back then, and also clarifying his first words that perhaps could be misinterpreted.
Don't know if this was posted on another thread, but when the video came up, I took a look at the comments and saw a comment from Ritter's wife. Here it is:
As Scott Ritter’s wife, I listened to this clip with interest. Several points: 1. a modicum of gratitude from you to people like Scott and others who raised an alarm about your disappearance is in order. The whole purpose of Scott’s article was to raise awareness of your disappearance.
2. Scott did not say that you were kidnapped, tortured and murdered. He said “when reports emerged that you were kidnapped, tortured and murdered….”. You conveniently omitted Scott’s reference to these reports. Scott further clarified in the same article “I have no direct evidence that Gonzalo has been killed, I was clear I was referring to reports emerging about his demise. But Gonzo said any disappearance of more than 12 hours should be treated as if something bad had happened to him. It’s been five days”.
3. As someone who once feared for his life at the prospect of being detained by the SBU during war time, you seem awfully jovial and nonchalant about your experience. As a former Soviet citizen, I know that security services do not arrest and release people suspected of treason during war time without some strings attached. After listening to your rant, I have a pretty good idea what those strings are.
4. With all due respect, Scott’s words stand on their own and they don’t need to be dressed up by the likes of you. In the article you quoted, Scott never once mentioned a Russian Vietnam or new Afghanistan. Those are your words, not his. 5. You assessment about Scott courting the mainstream media is fiction. I hope the SBU gives you a pat on your back for your efforts for attacking Scott. Your followers may not comprehend the true objectives behind your rant, but I do.
Here are some more thoughts. As far as I know (and I could be wrong), political detainees do not usually need to sign a non-disclosure document. But it could be necessary in cases of some other investigation. Either crime related or espionage. And if it is indeed political, people usually tend to disappear afterwards or don't talk about the subject that much. Perhaps SBU are feeling particularly generous, or there are indeed some strings attached. Or some sort of agreement was reached.
But considering his ties, and this is a mere speculation, perhaps he was indeed helped, and there was indeed some pressure to keep and release him safe and sound. But maybe it didn't come from the diplomatic sources, but actually the alt-right ones. Who knows. Another interesting thing to consider, that some on the internet say and provide proof that Spencer is actually "a controlled opposition". If so, maybe Lira's attempt to ridicule the doxxing by saying that he may be an alt-right secret agent isn't so ridiculous. We simply don't know. But my spidey senses are being activated on this one, go figure.
And I agree with you, Avala. It's really not a big deal. After all, we indeed can simply not watch his videos. And it's not like he is totally wrong. But then it could be a good learning opportunity. To learn how to read the signs and to observe, while keeping this new information in mind, and see if it actually fits.
If those concerns have merit, I feel for the Duran guys. I think they genuinely believe everything Lira is saying. And it actually fits with the pattern mentioned by the author of the "International Man of Contradiction" video. He mentioned how Lira always made sure to associate with bigger names/bloggers/channels, and this way provide more credibility or support for himself. But we will see how it goes.
