Lindsey Graham speaks during his visit to Ukraine. Russia has now put the U.S. senator on the wanted list. © SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP
Russia initiates a criminal case against a US senator. It is based on a video in which he is said to have mocked dead Russian soldiers.
Moscow - "In a video circulated on the Internet, US Senator Graham spoke at a meeting with the President of Ukraine about US financial involvement in the killing of Russian citizens," the Russian Investigative Committee writes in its Telegram channel, as reported by N-TV. In protest against the allegedly Russophobic statements, Russia has now put US Senator Lindsey Graham on the wanted list. Earlier, the Russian Investigative Committee had already initiated a criminal case over the alleged statements.
The video caused a stir after its release in Russia. The reaction of the head of the Russian foreign and propaganda channel RT probably went the furthest: Margarita Simonyan called for Graham's murder. As the Ukrainian-born journalist, Julia Davis, writes on dailybeast.com, Simonyan said of her demand: "We know where he lives. What's the problem?" Internationally, there are doubts as to whether Graham made these statements at all: In the video, he is very difficult to understand.
Ukraine war: Russia alerts US senator to search – doubts about the authenticity of the statements
Republican Graham visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv last Friday. There was also a video of the meeting consisting of several edited sequences in which, among other things, Zelensky thanked the US for its help in defending against Russia's war of aggression. According to Russian media, Graham said at one point: "And the Russians were dying. The best money we ever spent" (roughly: "And the Russians died. Our best investment ever"). The video was shared by Nexta on Twitter, among others.
However, the word "dying" is not clearly heard. There is therefore a dispute on the Internet about whether he did not instead say that the Russians were "done". There is also a pause between the two sentences because the video was edited at this very point - so Graham's statement about the investments could have referred to something else.
US Senator Graham contradicts the accusation from Russia
As reported by Reuters, Graham was responding to an accusation by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Medvedev, who said: "Old fool Senator Lindsey Graham said that the United States has never been so successful in spending money as it has on the murder of Russians. He shouldn't have done that."
"As always, the Russian propaganda machine is hard at work," Graham wrote in an email to Reuters on Sunday. The US senator went on to explain that he had said to Zelensky "that Ukraine has adopted the American mantra 'live free or die'. It was a good investment by the United States to help liberate Ukraine from Russian war criminals."
U.S. Senator Graham calls on Russia to withdraw – "Stop war crimes"
Addressing Medvedev, Graham wrote: "Mr. Medvedev, if you want the Russians to stop dying in Ukraine, then retreat. Stop the invasion. Stop the war crimes. The truth is that you and (President Vladimir) Putin could care less about Russian soldiers," he said. According to Reuters, subsequent releases from the Ukrainian president's office were able to clarify that Graham's statements did not follow each other immediately. (dpa/kat)
