Putin’s ‘fascism and tyranny’ equal to Nazis, Ben Wallace says

The attack of Ukraine ‘corrupts the memory of past sacrifices and Russia’s once-proud global reputation’, says Ben Wallace. Photograph: Heikki Saukkomaa/AP

Vladimir Putin and his inner political circle are “mirroring the fascism” of the Nazis through the invasion of Ukraine, the UK defence secretary will say on Monday morning ahead of the Kremlin’s annual military parade.

Ben Wallace is also expected to accuse President Putin of hijacking the annual commemoration of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany – and to say the country’s senior politicians and generals are complicit.