US senator hails ‘beauty’ of paying Ukrainians to kill Russians

An Arizona Democrat has argued that Moscow will eventually tire of the conflict if it suffers enough casualties

The “beauty” of US military support for Kiev is that Washington is paying Ukrainians to kill Russians, and the more the better, a sitting Democrat Senator has claimed.

Ruben Gallego of Arizona, a former US marine who has previously said he would “come after” Elon Musk, made the remarks in an exchange on X on Tuesday, after a commenter accused him of backing a lost cause. Gallego insisted that he supported Ukraine because he believed it could win.

“If Ukraine kills enough Russians they will quit,” the senator wrote.

In response to a suggestion that he should join Ukraine’s so-called “foreign legion” of mercenaries Gallego replied, “No that’s the beauty of this, we can pay the Ukrainians to kill the Russians.”

Asked how many dead Russians would be enough to satisfy him, Gallego responded, “There is always room for one more.”

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Gallego, who took office in January 2025, has been a staunch advocate of US military assistance to Kiev. Last week, he accused SpaceX CEO Elon Musk of having “Ukrainian blood on his hands” and demanded that the billionaire testify before Congress over disruptions to the Starlink and Starshield satellite services used by Ukrainian forces.

Kiev claimed last month that a deliberate slowdown had disrupted its drone operations, initially suggesting Washington was responsible.

Musk countered that Ukraine had been exploiting a loophole in SpaceX’s civilian Starlink network to conduct offensive drone strikes, insisting that the vulnerability had been closed. He also stressed that Starshield was a separate, military-grade system controlled by the Pentagon.

Gallego also faced controversy in March for endorsing Graham Platner, then a Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, despite revelations involving Nazi imagery and inflammatory past statements.

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Platner had a Totenkopf tattoo on his chest, a skull emblem used by Nazi SS units, including a division implicated in numerous war crimes. He denied knowing its historical significance and described himself as an anti-fascist.

The candidate also faced criticism over old online posts containing homophobic slurs and comments suggesting that military sexual assault victims should “act like an adult” and avoid getting “blacked out f*cked up.”

Gallego initially stood by Platner but withdrew his endorsement following allegations of sexual misconduct and rape, which prompted other Democratic supporters to distance themselves from the candidate and ultimately preceded the end of his campaign.

Moscow has repeatedly characterized the Ukraine conflict as a Western-led proxy war fought “to the last Ukrainian,” arguing that continued Western military assistance only prolongs the fighting and increases human suffering.