Russian president Vladimir Putin has been diminished by his decision to invade Ukraine, according to Ben Wallace
(Picture: AP)Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said Vladimir Putin is “a man in a cage” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been met with fierce military resistance and sanctions.
The invasion is into its second month with Russia suffering significant losses of equipment and soldiers, according to western intelligence reports.
Mr Wallace said Russia is now a “lesser country” as a result of the invasion of Ukraine.
He told Sky News: “Vladimir Putin is not the force he used to be. He is now a man in a cage he built himself. His army is exhausted, he has suffered significant losses. The reputation of this great army of Russia has been trashed.
“He has not only got to live with the consequences of what he is doing to Ukraine, but he has also got to live with the consequences of what he has done to his own army.”
Mr Wallace said Russian forces appeared to be regrouping and shifting their focus towards the south and east of Ukraine.
“We have seen it before. It always gets worse. It goes for more civilian attacks, more civilian areas,” he said.
The Defence Secretary said international allies have agreed to supply more military equipment to Ukraine including armoured vehicles and artillery ammunition.
Mr Wallace said he had taken part in a conference call with defence ministers from more that 35 nations - including the United States, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan, to discuss what assistance they could provide.
He added: “There will be more lethal aid going into Ukraine as a result of today. Ukraine needs longer range artillery and that’s because of what the Russian army has been doing which is now digging in and starting to pound these cities with artillery.
“The best counter to that is other long-range artillery so they’ll be looking for and getting more long-range artillery, ammunition predominantly.”
