- Category
- World
Russia Issues Arrest Warrant for Former UK Defense Chief After Calls to “Smash” Kerch Bridge
- Authors
![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Russia has issued an arrest warrant for former British defense secretary Ben Wallace after he publicly called for Ukraine to target the Kerch Bridge and make temporarily occupied Crimea “unviable” for Russian forces, according to The Telegraph on May 13.
Moscow’s Basmanny District Court sentenced Wallace in absentia on charges of “justifying terrorism,” with the case linked to comments he made during the Warsaw Security Forum last September.
We bring you stories from the ground. Your support keeps our team in the field.
Speaking at the event, Wallace said: “Putin is in love with the idea of dominating Ukraine, so we have to help Ukraine have the long-range capabilities to make Crimea unviable.”
“We need to choke the life out of Crimea. We need to smash the Kerch Bridge, because that’s a statue to Putin’s ego,” he added.
The Kremlin reacted furiously to the remarks. Russia’s Foreign Ministry described the comments as “incitement to terrorism,” while Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reportedly called Wallace’s statements “stupid.”
According to the report, Russian lawmakers first pushed for Wallace’s arrest in October 2025, before a Russian court ordered his pre-trial detention in absentia the following month. The ruling was not publicly disclosed until now.
Wallace served as Britain’s defense chief from 2019 to 2023 and became one of the strongest Western supporters of Ukraine during the early stages of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The Kerch Bridge, which connects Russia to occupied Crimea, remains one of Moscow’s most strategically important military logistics routes. Built after Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, the 20-kilometer road and rail crossing has been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian strikes since 2022.
Ukraine has officially claimed responsibility for three major attacks on the bridge, including the October 2022 blast that partially collapsed sections of the roadway and a later maritime drone strike near the bridge’s support pillars.
Earlier, a former British lawmaker and former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party announced his decision to join the 12th Special Operations Brigade Azov of the National Guard of Ukraine.
Discuss this article:
-4a56a6b482ec132402c16ef6fcabf9a2.png)
-c439b7bd9030ecf9d5a4287dc361ba31.jpg "Photo of Katherina Popilnichenko")
