UK defense minister condemns Putin for ‘mirroring fascism’

UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “mirroring fascism,” as the country holds an annual Victory Day parade on Moscow’s Red Square.

Wallace, himself a former army officer, says in a speech that Putin’s bemedaled generals should face a court martial for their handling of the war in Ukraine.

He speaks after Putin defended Russia’s offensive in Ukraine in an address to ranks of troops on Red Square for the May 9 holiday celebrating the Soviet victory in World War II.

Wallace says in an address at the National Army Museum in London that “through the invasion of Ukraine, Putin, his inner circle, his generals, are now mirroring fascism and tyranny 77 years ago.”

He accuses them of “repeating the errors of the last century’s totalitarian regimes… For them, and for Putin, there can be no Victory Day, only dishonor and surely defeat in Ukraine.”