Russia Issues Arrest Warrant for Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham
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The new of the warrant came after the South Carolina lawmaker expressed public support for Ukraine amid the ongoing invasion
Russia's Interior Ministry on Monday issued an arrest warrant for Sen. Lindsey Graham after the Republican lawmaker described U.S. defense spending on Ukraine "the best money we've ever spent" and noted that "Russians are dying."
Graham made the comments while speaking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Edited footage of the exchange released on social media appears to show Graham making the remarks in succession, though the full exchange shows the remarks were made in greater context.
Still, the comments drew the ire of Russia.
In a statement issued Sunday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "it's hard to imagine a greater shame for the country than having such senators." One day later, the country's Investigative Committee said it was opening a criminal investigation into Graham’s comments, Al Jazeera reports.
RELATED: A Timeline of How Russia Began Invading Ukraine
CBS News reports that Russia's Interior Ministry followed up with an arrest warrant issued for Graham on Monday — a rare move for the country, which has previously issued sanctions against several U.S. officials, but has rarely sought the arrest of American lawmakers.
In a statement provided to Reuters, Graham dismissed the Russian outcry over the remarks, saying, "As usual, the Russian propaganda machine is hard at work.”
He added that if Russian officials "want Russians to stop dying in Ukraine," they should "withdraw" from the war. "Stop the invasion. Stop the war crimes. The truth is that you and Putin could care less about Russian soldiers.”
The Russian invasion of Ukraine began in late February 2022, a situation that came after months of tensions and quickly unraveled, leading to countless deaths and the displacement of millions.
Now more than a year later, the United Nations Refugee Agency has estimated that more than 8 million refugees are believed to have fled Ukraine since the start of the war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to back down — despite what many diplomats say was a severe underestimation of the Ukrainian people, who have fought tooth and nail to save their country and their livelihoods.
The exact number of lives lost during Russia's invasion is not yet known, though American officials have estimated that some 200,000 Russian troops have been killed and wounded in Ukraine, The New York Times reports.
The Times further cites Norway's defense chief, who has publicly estimated that Ukraine has seen 100,000 people killed or wounded in action and some 30,000 civilian deaths (though he told the outlet the number could be lower, or higher, than that).
The Russian attack on Ukraine is an ever-evolving story, with information changing quickly. Follow PEOPLE's complete coverage of the war here, including stories from citizens on the ground and ways to help.
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