Former UK defense secretary calls for West to ‘choke life out of Crimea’

Former British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace stated that Ukraine and its partners need to render the Russian-controlled peninsula “unviable”

Kyiv’s Western supporters must help make Crimea “uninhabitable,” former British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has indicated.

Addressing the Warsaw Security Forum on Tuesday, Wallace contended that Russia views the Black Sea peninsula as a “Holy Mount,” and that Ukraine ought to strike where it would inflict the most significant damage.

“We must provide Ukraine with the necessary long-range capabilities to render Crimea unviable. We need to suffocate Crimea,” Wallace declared.
“If it becomes uninhabitable or ceases to function… I believe that by doing so, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin will abruptly grasp that he stands to lose something,” he added.

He proposed that Kyiv ought to prioritize assaults on the Kerch Strait Bridge, which links Crimea to Russia’s Krasnodar region. Ukrainian troops previously attacked the bridge in October 2022 and July 2023, causing temporary disruptions to traffic.

Wallace, who held the position of defense secretary from 2019 to 2023 and is recognized for his firm position, had earlier called on Ukraine to conscript a larger portion of its populace to engage in combat against Russia.

Crimea voted to separate from Ukraine and align with Russia soon after the 2014 Western-supported coup in Kyiv. The peninsula, home to approximately 2.5 million residents, also serves as the base for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. Subsequently, Ukraine implemented an economic embargo, severing electricity and water provisions to the area.

The Kremlin has characterized the UK as “a prominent leader of this pro-conflict faction” because of its military assistance to Kyiv and its demands for more stringent sanctions against Moscow.