By Betsy Woodruff Swan | POLITICO News
Resolved: More than three dozen House members are backing a resolution calling on the International Criminal Court to prosecute Russian President Vladimir Putin “should anything happen” to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to the lead sponsor.

Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) told POLITICO that he decided to spearhead the resolution after seeing reports that a Chechen hit squad had entered Ukraine to target Zelenskyy.

“It’s a sense of Congress, it doesn’t have force of law – I get it,” he said. “But I thought this was important because it is something at our disposal. It is another way to tell [Putin]: We see you. We see what you’re doing. We know it’s wrong, we know it’s evil, you know it’s wrong, you know it’s evil, and if you do this we’re going to see that you’re punished.”

Meanwhile, in the Hague: The ICC’s chief prosecutor said this week that he will open a probe as quickly as feasible into alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine, as NPR detailed.

Who's backing Burgess? A host of members have signed on to the resolution, including Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), who co-founded and co-chairs the Congressional Ukraine Caucus. It comes as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) rolls out his own symbolic call for an international criminal probe of Putin — and as the Biden administration grapples to support Ukraine’s military without being pulled into war with another nuclear power. Ukrainian officials, are begging for more support.