Lira, Gonzo? Tell Me Again Who's Fighting for Freedom in Ukraine?

News of Gonzalo Lira has finally been received after he'd disappeared roughly three months ago, following his arrest by Ukraine's SBU.

Lira posted three brief videos and Tweeted a cryptic status update that alluded to an escape out of Ukraine, seeking political asylum in Hungary; he was roughly five kilometres from the Hungarian border when he'd filmed his first video, doing so to offer a record of events should things not quite play out the way Lira was betting on, for he'd now be an escapee rather than a refugee, but he was working under the assumption that his "escape" was the unstated conclusion that Kyiv was, in fact, hoping for.

Surprisingly, probably due to some pressure having been applied by citizens, the US State Dept did involve itself in Lira's case, but, from what we can deduce, only doing so by 'going through the motions', doing the bare minimum paper shuffling to avoid reproach while claiming they were doing their best. Still, this is more than many had anticipated.  However, this could have been resolved with a call to Kyiv, not Moscow, so, please, one phone call is absolutely all that this case should have needed to have Lira freed, Ukraine booting him out the country permanently, putting him on a plane back home.  

On the other hand, having dual US-Chile citizenships, the Chilean ministry is said to have "tried to move heaven and earth" to get Lira released.

Lira claims having undergone torture and asserts having been blackmailed into making certain admissions; the Kyiv regime has charged him with a list of crimes that equate publicly opining on known aspects of the Russo-Ukraine war as being particularly treasonous and anti-Ukrainian given that his views weren't—you guessed it—favourable to Kyiv.

In an odd turn that saw Lira test his chance as he hoped he'd understood the unstated, he hopped on his motorcycle and headed for the border...

Nope. The 'escape' part didn't include breaking out of jail. Lira was released on bail, but the Ukrainians sorta goofed on the monitoring bracelet and, oops, sorta gave him his passports back... but he better be there at his trial in a few days so he can face the big trouble he's in.

Either this is Kyiv's way of "getting rid" of him due to some pressure—he's not worth the trouble—though without actually releasing him, or they're setting him up, counting on Lira wanting to leave the country ASAP. Hence why he's hoping to receive political asylum from Hungary, rather than another European country, as Kyiv is bound to make trouble for him so long as there's an "escapee" status hanging over his head.

I wonder what's happening with his wife and kids?

Rumour is that Victoria Nuland may have helped direct the SBU's attention toward Lira, perhaps motivating an arrest, if not having hindered his speedy release; this is pure speculation, this conclusion, advanced by some, is based on a comment made by Lira.