June 02, 2023

Mixed Signals


Mixed Signals
Lindsey Graham speaking at the Iowa GOP's Growth and Opportunity Party in Des Moines, Iowa on October 31, 2015. Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons.

After a visit to Kiev and a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky, US Senator Lindsey Graham said his comments were taken out of context and clarified his initial remarks regarding assistance from the United States to Ukraine. He said his comments were intended to commend the resilience of Ukrainians in resisting Russia's invasion.

An uproar ensued after a short video was published on May 26, that edited the senator's comments out of context, combing the phrases, "Russians are dying" and "We have never spent money so well," comments that were not otherwise connected.

Reuters noted that the initial release of the video did not clarify that these phrases were spoken at different parts of the conversation.

In fact, Graham said that the U.S. aid to Ukraine – and not the deaths of Russians – was a valuable investment in global security.

Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman, was set off by the mangled video edit: “The old fool Senator Lindsey Graham said that the United States has never spent money so successfully as on the murder of Russians… He shouldn’t have done that.”

Meanwhile, head of RT, Margarita Simonyan, called for Graham's assasination. And the infamous TV host Vladimir Solovyov, on his program Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, angrily exclaimed: “Your dirty American money also fully supported the Nazi regime in Germany! You are a Nazi beast and you’re following in the footsteps of your predecessors. I’ll repeat it once again: you will croak, but the Russian people will live forever!”

Graham, for his part, sent a statement to Reuters: “As usual, the Russia propaganda machine is hard at work… Mr. Medvedev, if you want Russians to stop dying in Ukraine, withdraw. Stop the invasion. Stop the war crimes. The truth is that you and Putin could care less about Russian soldiers.”

You Might Also Like

Long Range Effects
  • June 09, 2022

Long Range Effects

Putin claims that US-provided weapons to Ukraine have made no impact against the invasion.
A Collaborative Effort
  • May 26, 2022

A Collaborative Effort

The US Department of Defense is coordinating with nearly 50 countries to provide military aid to Ukraine.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

Woe From Wit (bilingual)
June 20, 2017

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.

Fish
February 01, 2010

Fish

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955