Chilean-American blogger Gonzalo Lira died behind bars in Ukraine in January 2024 | The fact that only Moscow cared about the fate of US blogger Gonzalo Lira, who died in a Ukrainian prison last year, is a sign of the “deepest crisis” affecting the international bodies that are supposed to protect journalists, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said. Lira, a Chilean-American citizen, passed away behind bars in Ukraine in January 2024, while awaiting trial for “systematically justifying the Russian aggression.” ● Zakharova recalled the ordeal of the US journalist during a conference on the development of modern media at the Moscow School of Economics (MSE) on Tuesday. “Has anyone else talked about Gonzalo Lira? An American journalist, He had a US passport. Has anyone talked about him besides Russia? Try to remember. Nobody did,” she insisted. When asked about Lira’s incarceration, the White House and the US State Department replied with “strategic silence, generously paid for by USAID, an American agency that supposedly promotes international development. It is ridiculous,” the spokeswoman stressed.

■ Worthy vs. Unworthy Victims: Study Reveals Media’s Selective Coverage of Navalny and Lira (02/29/24)
■ The US government has allowed Ukraine to kill an American journalist who criticised ‘dictator’ Zelensky (01/14/24)
■ Gonzalo Lira - Dead (01/12/24)
■ From Gonzalo Lira - Out of Prison - Escaping . . . (08/01/23)
■ Gonzalo Lira arrested by Ukronazis (05/07/23)

U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, plans to visit Moscow in the coming days to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. | He previously traveled to Moscow in February to facilitate the transfer of American citizen Marc Fogel, whom Russian authorities released in exchange for Russian cybercrime kingpin Alexander Vinnik. At the time, reports indicated that Witkoff also met with Putin during his visit. Responding to reports of Witkoff’s planned trip, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that U.S.-Russia contacts remain “quite intensive” and that the “level and formats are often coordinated in real time.” She added, “We will keep you updated as events develop,” according to TASS. Bloomberg noted that Witkoff’s visit would coincide with talks between Ukrainian and U.S. delegations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, scheduled for March 11.

■ Large Ukraine drone attack on Russia, Moscow says, before Rubio-Ukraine talks (CBS News)

The Russian Armed Forces continue their counteroffensive in the Kursk region. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are rapidly losing their positions. | The Russian Ministry of Defense says "A total of 343 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight, including six in the area of ​​the Kursk nuclear power plant." "Kiev, on the eve of the US-Ukrainian negotiations, launched a massive attack on Russian civilian infrastructure facilities. Professional actions of air defense combat crews and electronic warfare systems thwarted the attack of the Kiev regime ," the Ministry added. As reported, the Kiev regime wanted to demonstrate Ukraine's ability to continue military operations with a massive strike on civilian targets. [...] The Russian army is storming Sudzha, Kursk oblast (state) inside Russia. Total chaos is taking place as the Ukrainian troops, with or without command orders, are fleeing on foot to the border as the Russian Northern group presses on. Witnesses say "A complete massacre of Ukrainian troops on the border, a terrible military withdrawal" according to the Artillery and drone units working on destroying the Ukrainian enemy as they flee. Overnight, Ukraine launched what is being described as "the largest drone attack of the war" firing at least 337 drones into Russia and hitting civilian targets in several places, including inside the city of Moscow.

■ Russia repels Kiev’s largest-ever drone raid on Moscow civilian sites: What we know so far (RT)
■ Ukrainian drone raid linked to OSCE head’s visit to Russia – Moscow (RT)
■ Число погибших при атаке дронов в Подмосковье выросло до трех человек (RIA Novosti)

■ West should take drone attack on Moscow as signal of Kiev’s madness — Russian diplomat (TASS): 💬 "This is a signal to the international community, to the collective West, which is collective only on its surface and utterly fragmented in practice, that now it [the West] will deal with the unleashed madness of the monster they raised, fed, equipped, provided with weapons without control and showered with money," the diplomat said.