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UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said on Monday that Vladimir Putin’s regime is “mirroring” the actions of the Nazis he claims to be fighting, as the Russian leader held a military parade to commemorate victory in the Second World War.
In a speech at London's National Army Museum, Mr Wallace said Mr Putin and his inner circle were showing "the same disregard for human life, national sovereignty and the rules-based international systems" as dictators of the 20th century.
It came as the Russian leader used the Victory Day parade in Moscow, marking the defeat of the Nazis in 1945, to laud soldiers he claimed were "defending what our fathers, grandfathers and great grandfathers fought for" in that conflict.
Western governments have rejected Russia's claim that Ukraine is run by neo-Nazis as a nonsensical pretext for an invasion that is now more than two months old.
“Through their invasion of Ukraine, Mr Putin, his inner circle and generals are now mirroring the fascism and tyranny of 70 years ago, repeating the errors of last century’s totalitarian regimes,” Mr Wallace said.
":Let’s call out the absurdity of Russian generals – resplendent in their manicured parade uniforms, weighed down by their gold braid and glistening medals. They are utterly complicit in Putin’s hijacking of their forebears’ proud history.
"Their unprovoked, illegal, senseless, and self-defeating invasion of Ukraine, their attacks against innocent civilians and their homes, their widespread atrocities, including the deliberate targeting of women and children - they all corrupt the memory of past sacrifices and Russia’s once-proud global reputation."
Russia’s sacrifices in the past should not be forgotten, “nor must the lessons about what lies in store for the perpetrators of such unprovoked brutality”.
“In going to such extremes to justify this war of choice he and his generals are now ripping up both Russia’s past and its future," he will say in a message to Mr Putin.
“Their unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine, attacks against innocent citizens and their homes, and the widespread atrocities — including deliberately against women and children — corrupts the memory of past sacrifices and Russia’s once-proud global reputation.”
Mr Wallace's speech directly accused Russian commanders of war crimes and incompetence in a campaign that has failed to secure the gains expected by Mr Putin. But the defence secretary said decisions in the Kremlin's inner circle should not exonerate the ordinary soldier from complicity in alleged atrocities.
"I do not in any way remove culpability from the ordinary soldier for what horrors they are inflicting," he said, but "their top brass have failed their own rank and file to the extent they should be court-martialled.”
He said that rank and file soldiers in the Russian army “will not get a voice and their mothers and sisters will be shamed into silence”.
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A Russian artillery vehicle is driven along Tverskaya Street towards Red Square to attend a rehearsal for the May 9 Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia. AP -
Russian soldiers march in their rehearsal for the parade, that will celebrate the 77th anniversary of the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany. AFP -
Muscovites watch Russian heavy weapons make their way to Red Square. EPA -
A Russian artilleryman in his vehicle on Tverskaya Street. EPA -
Onlookers watch the heavy military vehicles drive through Moscow. EPA -
Russian soldiers clean their vehicle before the rehearsal. AP -
A Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile system on its way to Red Square. AP -
Self-propelled artillery vehicles, tanks and pther military vehicles gather on Tverskaya Street for the parade rehearsal. AP -
A column of Russian S-400 Triumf missile systems drives along the Garden Ring road towards Red Square. AFP -
Armoured cars fly the red flag. AP -
Russian Ilyushin IL-76MD military transport planes fly over Red Square during a rehearsal for a flypast as part of the victory parade. AFP -
Russian Ilyushin IL-76MD military transport planes fly over Red Square during a rehearsal for a flypast as part of the victory parade. AFP -
Russian Tu-22M3 bombers fly in formation above a church in Moscow. Reuters -
Russian Su-25 jet aircraft release smoke in the colours of the Russian state flag during the rehearsal for the flypast. Reuters
Mr Wallace’s speech comes after Foreign Secretary Liz Truss accused Russia of war crimes over the bombing of a school in eastern Ukraine where civilians were sheltering.
Up to 60 are feared dead after the school in Bilohorivka in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine was bombed and caught fire on Saturday.
The foreign secretary said she was “horrified” and added that Mr Putin’s regime would be held to account.
About 90 people were thought to have been sheltering at the school, but only 30 have been rescued.
“Horrified by Russia’s latest attack on a school in Luhansk, resulting in the deaths of innocent people sheltering from Russian bombardment,” Ms Truss tweeted.
She said the deliberate attacks on civilians and infrastructure “amounts to war crimes” and “we will ensure Putin’s regime is held accountable”.
On Sunday, G7 leaders including Boris Johnson and Joe Biden held talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Mr Johnson told his counterparts “the world must go further and faster to support Ukraine” against the Kremlin’s invading forces.
“The prime minister said there was a savage irony that the leaders had gathered to discuss Mr Putin’s barbaric invasion on a day when they should be remembering the sacrifice of Russian soldiers defeating fascism in the Second World War," said a Downing Street spokeswoman.
“He agreed with G7 leaders that the world must intensify economic pressure on Mr Putin in any way possible, and said the West must not allow the war to turn into a stalemate that only magnified suffering.
“Ukraine needed to receive military equipment that allowed them to not just hold ground in Ukraine, but recapture it, the Prime Minister told the leaders.”
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An injured Ukrainian service member sits at a field hospital inside Azovstal steel works in Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters -
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends a meeting in Kyiv with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra. Reuters -
Ukrainian servicemen study a Swedish shoulder-launched weapon system during a training session near Kharkiv. AP Photo -
Russian emergency personnel clear debris inside Mariupol's drama theatre. AFP -
Ukrainian servicemen study a map near Kharkiv. EPA -
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an online meeting with the Saratov region's acting governor, Roman Busargin, in Moscow. AP -
Belgian soldiers take part in a Nato military exercise near Munster, Germany. Getty -
Ukraine's prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova, left, speaks with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, right, during her visit to mass graves in Bucha, Ukraine. EPA -
A guard of honour stands at attention during the funerals of Sgt Olexandr Moisenko and Sergiy Turpetko in Lviv, Ukraine. Getty -
Plumes of smoke rise above the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol amid Russian shelling. AFP -
US President Joe Biden signs into law a measure making it easier for Washington to send weapons and supplies to the government in Kyiv. Bloomberg -
A Ukrainian soldier fires with a mortar, in the Kharkiv region. Reuters -
The Eiffel Tower is lit up in blue and yellow, the national colours of Ukraine, to express solidarity with its people at the request of the French Presidency of the EU, in Paris. Reuters -
A Ukrainian Army tank drives over an infantryman during a training exercise near Kryvyi Rih. Getty Images -
A Ukrainian soldier rests in his room at a front-line field hospital near Popasna, Luhansk region. EPA -
Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Memorial to Hero Cities at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier after the Victory Day military parade in Moscow. EPA -
Ukrainian refugees from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol are seen in a bus as they arrive at a humanitarian aid centre for internally displaced people, in Zaporizhzhia. Reuters -
A hotel complex destroyed by a Russian missile is pictured in Odesa, Ukraine. Reuters -
Maksym, 3, is photographed with his brother, Dmytro, 16, on top of a destroyed Russian tank on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. AP Photo -
A video of a press conference from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol by Azov regiment servicemen Illia Samoilenko, right, and Sviatoslav Palamar, seen on a computer screen in Kyiv. EPA -
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy take part in a online meeting of G7 leaders in Kyiv. Reuters -
US first lady Jill Biden greets Olena Zelenska, wife of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, outside a public school in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. Reuters -
Irish singer and activist Bono, the lead vocalist of rock band U2, performs at a subway station that has been turned into a bomb shelter in Kyiv. AFP -
A boy looks out of a bus window as people evacuated from Mariupol arrive in Zaporizhzhia. AFP -
A night-vision image shows fire on Ukraine's Zmiinyi Island. Reuters -
Women sing the Ukrainian national anthem below the Euro Monument during a demonstration in Frankfurt, Germany. AP -
Emergency personnel at a school building hit by shelling, in the village of Bilohorivka, Luhansk. Reuters -
A man plays piano in an abandoned photo studio in Severodonetsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
A man and his son wait for an evacuation bus in Lysychansk, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Volunteers deliver food supplies to residents, taken from the warehouse of a humanitarian aid distribution centre in Severodonetsk. AFP -
An unexploded ordnance on a road in Severodonetsk. AFP -
Galina Abdurashikova, 65, has been staying in an abondoned car in front of her apartment since her room was destroyed by shelling five days ago, in Severodonetsk. AFP -
A large hole at the site where a missile strike hit a residential area in Bakhmut, Donetsk region. Reuters -
A man searches for useful items inside his house after a missile strike in a residential area, in Bakhmut. Reuters -
Two men look at the damage after a missile struck a cement plant, in Bakhmut. Reuters -
Civilians attempting to leave Mariupol wait in line at a checkpoint near the temporary accommodation centre in Bezimenoye village. EPA -
Civilians who were evacuated from Azovstal, walk in the temporary accommodation centre in Bezimenoye village, near Mariupol. EPA -
A cyclist photographs the destroyed bridge over the Irpin river, in Irpin. Getty Images -
A residential area destroyed by Russian shelling, in Irpin. Reuters -
People with their luggage walk to a station to wait for the evacuation train heading to the west of Ukraine, in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region. EPA -
A volunteer shapes metal plates at a factory producing material for Ukrainian soldiers in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. AP -
Workers clean shattered glass and debris in front of a residential building next to a site of a Russian missile attack in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa. AFP -
A Ukrainian Army tank moves towards a fron-tline position in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Getty Images -
Eugene Yevchenko cries as he bids farewell to his daughter Maria at a coach station in Lviv. Getty Images -
A child stands on a destroyed Russian tank near Makariv, Kyiv region. Reuters -
A Ukrainian national guard soldier mans a fighting position near the front line in Zelenodolsk. Getty Images -
Museum workers carry the sculpture of Ukrainian philosopher Hryhorri Skovoroda from the destroyed building of the Hryhoriy Skovoroda National Literary Memorial Museum in the village of Skovorodynivka, in Kharkiv Region. AFP
The G7 agreed more needed to be done to support Ukraine’s agricultural exports, with the war affecting food supplies around the world.
Mr Johnson also urged G7 countries to intensify diplomatic lobbying of countries which were failing to apply pressure on Moscow, “especially as it was clear grossly unjustifiable human rights abuses and war crimes were being committed”, the spokeswoman added.
US officials said two major Russian tank factories had ground to a halt because of the impact of economic sanctions.
The UK has pledged an extra £1.3 billion ($1.6bn) in military support to Ukraine, in a dramatic escalation of assistance for Mr Zelenskyy’s forces as they fight the Russian invasion.
It is the highest rate of UK military spending on a conflict since the height of the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
