Russia wants US senator

Russia's Interior Ministry has put US Senator Lindsey Graham on its wanted list, after the Kremlin criticized the Republican official for making anti-Russian comments.

"Lindsey Olin Graham, a US citizen, born on July 9, 1955, is wanted under an article of the Russian Criminal Code," TASS reported today, citing information from the Russian Interior Ministry database, but did not specify what the article was.

The move came after the Russian Investigative Committee said on May 28 that its chairman Alexander Bastrykin had ordered the start of a criminal investigation into Mr Graham over anti-Russian comments.

The arrest warrant is seen as largely symbolic, aimed at Mr Graham. Russia has placed dozens of US politicians on its sanctions list, barring them from entering the country, but it has rarely sought to arrest a serving senior US official.

US Senator Lindsey Graham speaks in Washington on May 11. Photo: AFP — US Senator Lindsey Graham speaks in Washington on May 11. Photo: *AFP*

Mr. Graham met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev on May 26. In a video released by the Ukrainian president's office, Mr. Graham said that "Russians are dying" and "it's the best money we've spent." However, the video appears to have been edited.

Russian officials were outraged by Graham's remarks. "It is hard to imagine what could be more shameful for a country than having such a senator," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov wrote on Telegram. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: "The United States has long been talking about killing Russians."

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev called Graham a "silly old man". "Graham said that the United States has never spent such money on killing Russians," Medvedev said. "He should not have done that."

Following Russia's response, Ukraine released a video of the entire conversation, showing that Mr. Graham's two statements were in two different conversations. The senator commented that "it was the best money we spent" when the Ukrainian president was thanking Washington for providing Kiev with $38 billion in aid.

Russia wants US senator — US Senator Lindsey Graham and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky talk in Kiev on May 26. Video: *Reuters*

In the following conversation, Graham said that "there was a time in America when we had to fight to the last man, we had to choose freedom or death".

“Freedom or death, and now you have freedom. So will we,” Mr. Zelensky replied.

“And the Russians are dying,” Graham added.

President Zelensky replied: "Yes, but they came to our territory. We did not fight on their territory."

Mr. Graham on May 28 rejected criticism from Russia.

“As always, the Russian propaganda machine is working hard,” Senator Graham wrote in an email to Reuters . Graham said he was simply referring to the US slogan “Freedom or Death” with Mr. Zelensky and described the assistance from Washington as effective in pushing Russian forces back from Ukrainian territory.