Russian media reported on Monday, using the database of the interior ministry, that United States Senator Lindsey Graham had been added to a wanted list.
Graham met with Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, according to an edited video of the meeting that the Ukrainian president’s office provided. Graham was seen saying “The Russians are dying” and then saying US support was the “best money we’ve ever spent.”
Zelensky told Graham that “now we are free.”
Russia on Sunday condemned Senator Graham for his remarks after which Ukraine released a full video of the meeting which showed the two remarks were not linked.
“It is difficult to imagine a greater shame for a country than having such senators,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the Shot Telegram channel.
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,” said Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev. “He shouldn’t have done that.”
The Investigative Committee of Russia announced on Sunday that it has begun a criminal investigation into Graham’s remarks. What crime he was allegedly guilty of was not specified.
On Sunday, Graham responded to Russian criticism of his support for Ukraine by claiming that he had just applauded the Ukrainian people’s resolve in defying a Russian invasion with backing from Washington.
Numerous US elected leaders and officials have previously been placed on Russian stop lists, preventing them from entering the country, although prominent American officeholders have rarely been targeted for arrest.
The footage provided by the Ukrainian presidential press department did not clearly show the precise timeline of Graham’s statements. A request for a complete transcript of Graham’s statements at the meeting was not immediately responded to on Sunday by the office of the Ukrainian president.
