Moscow has put a former top member of the British government, who is critical of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, on a wanted list, according to Russian state media.
State-run news agency TASS reported on May 13 that former British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace had been placed on the Russian Interior Ministry’s database of wanted people, being “wanted on a criminal charge.”
The charges against Wallace were not specified.
Wallace served as the UK’s defense minister from July 2019 until August 2023—during Russia’s initial invasion of eastern Ukraine—and, since leaving office, has continued to advocate for increasing military support for Kyiv, continuing to condemn Russian aggression.
Commenting on the move, Wallace said, “I am not surprised by this latest Russian stunt at a time when the Kremlin is failing at home and abroad.”
“The whole world knows that Russia illegally invaded Ukraine four years ago,” he said, accusing the Kremlin of “sending thousands of young Russian men to their deaths all for the sake of [President Vladimir] Putin’s ego.”
In September 2025, Wallace recommended helping Kyiv carry out military strikes on the bridge linking southern Russia to Ukraine.
“We have to help Ukraine have the long-range capabilities to make Crimea unviable. We need to choke the life out of Crimea. And if we do that, I think Putin will realise he’s got something to lose,” Wallace said at the time at the Warsaw Security Forum. “We need to smash the cursed bridge.”
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the remarks “stupid” at the time, according to TASS, and he said that the Kremlin does not consider it necessary to respond to comments about Russia made by former Western officials.
Russia–Ukraine War
The Russia–Ukraine war is now in its fifth year.
U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration have been working on facilitating an end to the war.
Following his 2024 election victory, Trump reestablished dialogue with Putin and pursued efforts to resolve the conflict, including arranging a meeting between the two leaders in Alaska in August 2025.
Discussions are ongoing, and Trump said on May 12 that the war in Ukraine is “very close” to ending and that he expected Moscow and Kyiv to reach a settlement.
“The end of the war in Ukraine, I really think it’s getting very close,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to China.
The comments follow similar remarks from Putin days earlier.
“I think it’s coming to an end, but it’s still a serious matter,” Putin told reporters in Moscow on May 9.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not appear to share that optimism.
“Russia has no intention of ending this war,” Zelenskyy said on May 11. “And we are, unfortunately, preparing for new attacks.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
Friends Read Free
Copy
Facebook
Tweet
