The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia has put US Senator Lindsey Graham on the federal wanted list, RIA Novosti reports with reference to the agency's database.
On May 28, a video appeared on social networks with a conversation between Lindsey Graham and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. In the video, the senator says, "Freedom or death," to which the president replies, "Now you are free, and we will be free." Graham goes on to say, “And the Russians are dying,” after which the tape is spliced, and the senator adds with a smile: “This is the best thing we spent money on.”
After that, the chairman of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, instructed to open a criminal case because of the "Russophobic statements" of the senator. “In a video circulated on the Internet, US Senator Lindsey Graham, during a meeting with the President of Ukraine, announced the financial participation of the United States in causing the death of Russian citizens,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Reuters agency reviewed the full version of the recording of the conversation, provided by the Office of the President of Ukraine, and concluded that the video was edited. In fact, in response to Graham’s remark about the death of the Russians, Zelensky says: “Yes, but they came to our territory. We are not fighting on their territory."
The phrase “This is the best thing we spent money on” was not heard in this part of the conversation, Graham said it after Zelensky thanked him for supporting Ukraine.
Graham, in a Reuters commentary, said that "the Russian propaganda machine, as usual, is running out of steam." He added that "for the United States, helping to liberate Ukraine from Russian war criminals has become a good investment."
Graham also turned to Dmitry Medvedev, who called him "an old fool." “Mr. Medvedev, if you want Russians to stop dying in Ukraine, withdraw your troops. Stop the invasion. Stop war crimes. However, the truth is that both you and Putin do not care about Russian soldiers,” he said.