U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham has died at the age of 71 on the evening of July 11 from a "brief and sudden illness" after a recent trip to Kyiv, his office announced on July 12.The Republican senator from South Carolina was recently in Kyiv on his tenth visit to Ukraine, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 10 to discuss strengthening Ukraine's air defense and progress on a Russian sanctions bill in the U.S.Graham also visited the factory of Skyfall, a Ukrainian drone manufacturer, and backed U.S. partnerships with Ukrainian drone makers.His passing sparked an outpouring of thanks and praise from top Ukrainian officials, including President Zelensky who called him "a true champion of freedom and the values that make our world safer.""(Graham) was here with our people when it was most needed. We were in constant dialogue, and I will miss that," he wrote on social media. "He actively promoted bipartisan and bicameral support for Ukraine, and in recent weeks, he was working on important initiatives that could help bring peace closer, including strengthening sanctions against Russia."Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Graham was as a "true friend" and "one of the strongest voices" in Ukraine's war against the Russian invasion. He noted that the late senator pushed for bolstering sanctions against Russia and helped provide Ukraine with the means to defend itself. Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk described Graham as a someone who understood Ukraine's struggle and "fight for freedom, democracy, and a just world order." "His voice in the U.S. Senate carried weight, and his support for our state was principled and active," Stefanchuk wrote on X. According to NBC, Graham was back at his Capitol Hill home when emergency services responded to a call reporting a "cardiac arrest."An ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, Graham was seen as one of the most pro-Ukraine voices in the Republican Party and consistently backed U.S. military support for the embattled country.