'Happy Independence Day': Analyst busts GOP senator on Russian TV consorting with grandson of Stalin confidante

A Kremlin-funded television station this week broadcast images of Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) rubbing shoulders with Vyacheslav Nikonov, the grandson of Joseph Stalin's foreign minister.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Russian media analyst Julia Davis first noted that Shelby appeared on VTGRK, a news station funded by the Russian government.

"GOP lawmakers requested that their meetings with members of the Russian government proceed in a closed format (no press allowed)," Davis wrote. "Here is @SenShelby chitchatting with [Vyacheslav Molotov's] grandson, Vyacheslav Nikonov."

"Happy #IndependenceDay," she added, later calling Shelby's visit "surreal."

Shelby can be seen in a video clip from VTGRK below.