Ukraine war: Russia puts US Senator Lindsey Graham on wanted list
- Russia denounced remarks by US Senator Lindsey Graham that appear to cheer on Russian deaths in Ukraine
- Dismissing criticism, Graham praised Ukrainian resistance and said the ‘Russia propaganda machine is hard at work’
Russia’s interior ministry has put US Senator Lindsey Graham on a wanted list, Russian media reported on Monday, citing the ministry’s database.
In an edited video released by the Ukrainian president’s office of Graham’s meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, Graham was shown saying “the Russians are dying” and then saying US support was the “best money we’ve ever spent”.
After Russia criticised the remarks, Ukraine released a full video of the meeting which showed the two remarks were not linked.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said on Sunday that it was opening a criminal probe into Graham’s comments. It did not specify what crime he was suspected of.
In Russia, the comments caused a swell of outrage. Before the criminal proceedings were initiated, the Russian leadership had already verbally criticised Graham.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov spoke of a “disgrace” that such senators represented the United States. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova declared that US investments had caused World War II and the Holocaust.
Ukraine says Russia is plotting provocation at nuclear plant, offers no evidence
Now the US was funding “the neo-Nazi Kiev regime,” Zakharova added, reprising the Russian position that its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year was necessary to defeat Nazism.
Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev called Graham, a 67-year-old Republican, an old fool.
“The old fool Senator Lindsey Graham said that the United States has never spent money so successfully as on the murder of Russians,” Medvedev said. “He shouldn’t have done that.”
Graham disputed Russian criticism of his support for Ukraine on Sunday, saying he had simply praised the spirit of Ukrainians in resisting a Russian invasion with assistance provided by Washington.
“As usual the Russia propaganda machine is hard at work,” Graham told Reuters in an emailed statement on Sunday, referring to Medvedev’s comments about his Kyiv visit, which he had used to urge Washington to send more weapons to Ukraine.
Graham said he had mentioned to Zelensky “that Ukraine has adopted the American mantra, ‘Live Free or Die”. It has been a good investment by the United States to help liberate Ukraine from Russian war criminals”.
He added: “Mr Medvedev, if you want Russians to stop dying in Ukraine, withdraw. Stop the invasion. Stop the war crimes. The truth is that you and (President Vladimir) Putin could care less about Russian soldiers,” he said.
A South Carolina Republican known for his hawkish foreign policy views, Graham has been an outspoken champion of increased military support for Ukraine in its battle against Russia.
Russia has previously added dozens of US officials and elected politicians to stop lists, banning them from entering the country, but has rarely sought the arrest of senior American officeholders.
Additional reporting by dpa
