Russia puts US senator on wanted list

Russia has put US Senator Lindsey Graham on the wanted list. According to Russian news agency Tass, the Ministry of Interior has ordered criminal proceedings against the republican for Russophobic comments.

On Friday (26), the senator met with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, and officials of the country’s Defense, in Kiev, to provide support in the war with Russia. Since the beginning of the conflict, it was the third time that the Republican elected by South Carolina visited the country.

That same day, Graham said, “I’ve never been more optimistic about the Ukrainians’ ability to go on the attack and reclaim their territory from the Russians.”

Later, however, Zelensky published video of the meeting where Graham can be heard saying that “Russians are dying” and that US support for Ukraine was the “best money we’ve ever spent”.

In the video, edited and published by the Ukrainians, it is possible to hear the following dialogue:

“There was a time in the US when we were like this, fighting to the last person: we would be free or we would die,” said the US senator.

“Now you are free and we will be one day,” Zelensky replied.

– And the Russians are dying. [corte, edição] It’s the best money we’ve ever spent,” Graham said.

The United States has already donated US$38 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the war in February 2022. Today (29), on Twitter, the republican said that he will use “the arrest warrant issued by the corrupt and immoral government of Putin as a badge of honour.”

On Sunday (29), the spokesman for the President of Russia, Dmitry Peskov, commented that “it is difficult to imagine a greater shame for a country than having senators like that”.

Graham is one of 200 US congressmen banned from entering Russia. In all, there are 500 Americans banned by the Russian government from entering its territory, including former President Barack Obama.