WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) today introduced the Russia is a State Sponsor of Terrorism Act, legislation that would designate the Russian Federation a State Sponsor of Terrorism.

The Russia is a State Sponsor of Terrorism Act would designate the Russian Federation a State Sponsor of Terrorism (SST). This designation would:

1. Drastically curtail defense and technology exports to Russia,
2. Significantly reduce foreign assistance and impose additional financial restrictions on Russia, and
3. Eliminate Russia’s sovereign immunity in the eyes of U.S. courts, opening Russia’s government to lawsuits and other civil claims from the families of victims of its state-sponsored terrorism.

“Putin has crossed every line of civilized norms during the war in Ukraine and years before,” said Senator Graham. “He has engaged in state-sponsored assassinations, the Wagner group supported by Russia terrorizes the world, and the war crimes being committed in Ukraine on a daily basis shock the conscious. If Putin’s regime is not a State Sponsor of Terrorism after all this, then the designation is meaningless. We believe that it is long past due to designate Putin’s Russia as a State Sponsor of Terrorism and suffer the consequences thereof because he is a terrorist. Ukrainians have been asking for this designation, and we are listening. This will be a game changer in how we deal with terrorists worldwide.”

“The events of these past days and weeks have shown more than ever that Russia should be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism,” said Senator Blumenthal. “What has been revealed in Ukraine’s success on the battlefield is not only its military prowess and Russia’s weakness, but also Putin’s reliance on brutal atrocities, genocide, and war crimes against the people of Ukraine. Russia has more than earned the right to be among the club of pariah nations.”

The full text of the legislation can be found here.