Chilean-American writer and filmmaker Gonzalo Lira, who was residing in Ukraine, lost contact with his family and acquaintances, and relatives on April 15, and his current whereabouts are unknown, Santiago's foreign ministry told Sputnik on Thursday.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its Consult Section in Moscow, was informed that those close to Chilean Gonzalo Lira Lopez, who was in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv (Kharkiv), lost contact with him since April 15," the ministry said.

Santiago explained that the government was in contact with the relevant diplomatic entities to stay up to date on any news regarding Lopez's whereabouts and any information about him as nothing is known about him in the meantime.

Lira's last tweet on March 26 was: "Want to know the truth about the Zelensky regime? Google these names Vlodymyr Struk, Denis Kireev, Mikhail and Aleksander Kononovich, Nestor Shufrych, Yan Taksyur, Dmitri Djangirov, Elena Berezhnaya; if you haven't heard from me in 12 hours, put my name on the list." No one has heard from him in six days.

You want to learn the truth about the Zelensky regime? Google these names:

Vlodymyr Struk
Denis Kireev
Mikhail & Aleksander Kononovich
Nestor Shufrych
Yan Taksyur
Dmitri Djangirov
Elena Berezhnaya

If you haven’t heard from me in 12 hours or more, put my name on this list.

GL

— Gonzalo Lira (@realGonzaloLira) March 26, 2022

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Thursday she hoped Gonzalo Lira Lopez who disappeared following his criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was alive and well.

The journalist provided on-the-ground coverage of the war in Ukraine from Kiev at first and then from Kharkov, Zakharova said, adding that his reporting drew the attention of the Ukrainian security services and the far-right nationalist Azov battalion.

"We sincerely hope that… Gonzalo and his family are doing well," Zakharova wrote on Telegram.