Russia puts US Sen. Lindsey Graham on list of 'terrorists and extremists'

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The Russian Federal Financial Monitoring Service on Tuesday put US Sen. Lindsey Graham on a list of "extremists and terrorists."

The listing appeared on the service's database which was updated and posted on its website.

"Graham, Lindsey Olin, born on 07/09/1955, Central South Carolina, USA," it said.

The Russian Interior Ministry put Graham on its wanted list last May. Prior to that, the chair of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, instructed officials to open a criminal case because of the senator's Russophobic statements.

Graham, who is known for his anti-Russian stance, has repeatedly demanded that Russia be put on the US list of countries sponsoring terrorism. He also offered various options for tightening sanctions against Moscow.

Last May, the Ukrainian presidential press service published a video that showed Graham at a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy where he said the deaths of Russians during the conflict in Ukraine was Washington's "best investment."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called those comments "a disgrace to the US."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said such a position "has long been fixed in the US."

US media later said that Graham's statements could have been taken out of context.

The Russian Foreign Ministry called the statements "ridiculous and shameful excuses."