Russia Adds Ex-UK Defense Secretary Wallace to Wanted List

Russia's Interior Ministry has added former British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace to its wanted persons database in connection with an unspecified criminal investigation, according to the ministry's records cited in recent reports.

Wallace, who served as the United Kingdom's defense minister from 2019 until August 2023, has been a prominent advocate for increased military aid to Ukraine and a critic of Russia's actions since its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The listing follows comments he made at the Warsaw Security Forum in September 2023, where he urged Western support for Ukrainian strikes on the Kerch Bridge, which connects Russia to Crimea, the peninsula Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Speaking at the event, Wallace said, "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 realize he's got something to lose." He added, "We need to smash the cursed bridge," referring to the structure as a symbol of Russian President Vladimir Putin's ambitions.

In October 2023, a regional Russian lawmaker called for Wallace's inclusion on the international wanted list...