Ukrainian officials suspended trans-identifying American junior sergeant Sarah Ashton-Cirillo from duties as a military spokesperson for the Eastern European nation after Ashton-Cirillo said critics of U.S. involvement in Ukraine’s ongoing war with Russia would be “hunted down.”

“Sarah Ashton-Cirillo has been suspended from the duties of the spokesperson of the (territorial defense forces of Ukraine) while an investigation is underway,” Ukraine’s defense ministry said in a X-post on Wednesday.

Ashton-Cirillo, a 46-year-old biological male from Nevada who reportedly went by Mike before identifying as a female, became an official spokesperson for Ukraine after volunteering for Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Service.

In a video posted on X on September 13, Ashton-Cirillo said, “Russia hates the truth, that their obsessive focus on a Ukrainian volunteer is simply allowing the light of the Ukrainian nation’s honesty to shine brightly.”

“Next week, the teeth of the Russian devils will gnash ever harder, and their rabid mouths will foam in uncontrollable frenzy as the world will see a favorite Kremlin propagandist pay for their crimes,” Ashton-Cirillo said. “And this puppet of Putin is only the first Russia’s war criminal propagandists will all be hunted down, and justice will be served as we in Ukraine are led on this mission by faith in God, liberty, and complete liberation.”

A transgender former US soldier who goes by Sarah Ashton-Cirillo recently moved to Ukraine to become the English-speaking spokesman for the Ukrainian military.

Ashton-Cirillo is now taking to social media threatening to hunt down and kill those who criticize the country’s… pic.twitter.com/X4F8VcL1RG

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) September 13, 2023

It’s unclear who Ashton-Cirillo referenced as the “puppet of Putin” in the video.

Ukraine Territorial Defense Forces officials said in a X-post on Wednesday that its command or the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not approve the comments made by Ashton-Cirillo.

“When conducting military operations against the aggressor, the defense forces of Ukraine strictly observe the norms of international humanitarian law,” the post said. “The command of the TDF will conduct an official investigation into the circumstances of these statements. Appropriate decisions would be taken. Sergeant Sarah Ashton-Cirillo will be suspended immediately pending the investigation.”

Ohio Senator JD Vance, a Republican, sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines on September 15, raising concerns over the conduct of Ashton-Cirillo.

“I worry American resources could be supporting violence or the threat of violence against people for speaking their mind,” Vance’s letter reads, in part. “Notably, any critic of America’s incoherent policy in Ukraine has been slandered as propagandists, including multiple presidential candidates and American journalists. While we can debate the merits of these accusations, engaging in protected speech should not invite threats of violence—otherwise, the First Amendment means nothing.”

Ashton-Cirillo originally traveled to Ukraine to write about the refugee crisis — before becoming a war correspondent in March and enlisting as a combat medic.

Last year, Las Vegas city officials and Nevada Democrats, including U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, Rep. Dina Titus, and former Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, gave recognition to the suspended spokesperson for working on the frontlines in Ukraine.

“The reasons I’m fighting along with every other soldier are the reasons that the people in the United States and elsewhere can enjoy the lives they have here,” Ashton-Cirillo told local media.

Members of Congress also reportedly asked the trans-identifying correspondent to give a military uniform to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) presided over the Senate on Wednesday wearing a short-sleeve shirt, no tie, and shorts days following the controversial decision to stop enforcement of the chamber’s dress code.

Sen. Fetterman presides over U.S. Senate for first time since Sen. Schumer said Senate will no longer enforce its dress code for members pic.twitter.com/2epbmOoxmW

— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) September 20, 2023

The senator from Pennsylvania took his turn sitting as the presiding officer while some of his GOP colleagues, including Sens. John Thune (R-SD), Rand Paul (R-KY), and John Cornyn (R-TX), delivered remarks on the Senate floor.

Reporters caught up with Fetterman after his session had ended. “The world didn’t spin off its axis. You know, I just did it … I think we will still go on,” he said, according to an NBC News reporter.

Sen Fetterman says of his presiding over the Senate just now in shorts and short-sleeved button down with no tie: “The world didn't spin off its axis. You know, I just did it…I think we will still go on.” pic.twitter.com/VL9SRbbyMk

— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) September 20, 2023

In a change first revealed over the weekend that is tailored only to affect senators and not staff members, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) directed the Senate’s sergeant-at-arms to stop enforcement of the informal rules dictating that members wear business attire on the Senate floor.

“Senators are able to choose what they wear on the Senate floor. I will continue to wear a suit,” Schumer said in a statement to Axios, the first news outlet to report the change over the weekend.

Relaxing enforcement of the dress code, which appears to be more of a tradition than written policy, has sparked jokes as well as blowback from members of the Senate on both sides of the aisle.

Much of the uproar has been directed at Fetterman, a freshman senator who is well known for often wearing hoodies and gym shorts, leading to the change being dubbed “The Fetterman Rule.” The Associated Press reported earlier this year how Fetterman worked around the dress code rules for the Senate floor by popping in to vote from the doorway of the Democratic cloakroom or side entrance.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) told the media that he talked to Fetterman and said he thought the dress code decision was “wrong” and that he would “try to hold the decorum of the Senate.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was asked if he would restore the old rules if Republicans retake the upper chamber.

“I think I’m pretty safe in saying most if not all Republican senators think we ought to dress up to go to work. So I can’t imagine that we’re going to be wearing jeans on the Senate floor anytime soon,” McConnell said, according to The Hill.

Forty-six Republican senators, led by Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), signed a letter to Schumer demanding that he reverse the “misguided” rules change.

“The world watches us on that floor and we must protect the sanctity of that place at all costs,” the letter said, adding, “Allowing casual clothing on the Senate floor disrespects the institution we serve and the American families we represent.”

Fetterman has taken to social media to advertise hoodies and other clothing that mocks his critics.

In a post to X from his Senate account, Fetterman said, “If those jagoffs in the House stop trying to shut our government down, and fully support Ukraine, then I will save democracy by wearing a suit on the Senate floor next week.”