Rep. Ruben Gallego hits back at Russian politician who threatened him with kidnapping

Rep. Ruben Gallego reacted defiantly Wednesday after a Russian statesman threatened him with kidnapping on television.

“F--- around and find out,” Gallego, D-Ariz., tweeted, including an American flag emoji with his comment.

Gallego shared in a CNN interview his experience from a recent trip to Ukraine.

Gallego, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, urged President Joe Biden to take an even tougher stance against Russian President Vladimir Putin. This, he argued, was needed to deter Moscow from invading the neighboring country. That should include measures such as expanding the scope of blocking Russian assets, he said.

On Wednesday, according to a story first reported by the Daily Beast, Aleksei Zhuravlyov, a member of the Russian legislature, appeared on the Kremlin-version of 60 Minutes, which broadcast some of Gallego's remarks from the weekend.

Zhuravlyov told host Olga Skabeeva: “This is how we should be dealing with these bastards. We can grab him out of Ukraine and there’s nothing they could do, with our capabilities.”

Russia and Ukraine have had a historically fraught relationship. In 2014, Putin annexed Crimea from Kyiv.

Russian troops amassed at the border have stoked fear that Russia might invade the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. The area has been controlled by rebels who have been fighting the Ukrainian authorities for seven years.

Tara Kavaler is a politics reporter at The Arizona Republic. She can be reached by email at tara.kavaler@arizonarepublic.com or via Twitter @kavalertara.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Ruben Gallego hits back at Russian politician who threatened him