Vladimir Putin is condemning young Russians and Ukrainians to their deaths to avoid humiliation in an “unwinnable war”, Boris Johnson has said.
The Prime Minister said the Russian President was fighting in Ukraine “solely for his own vanity” and said the invasion was an “ego-driven mistake” which now had no clear strategic objective.
As Russia celebrated its annual Victory Day with a military parade in Moscow, Johnson said: “This is Putin’s unwinnable war. Russians are right to commemorate their heroic role in the defeat of Nazism.
"But Putin’s brutal attack on Ukraine shames Russia. His unwinnable war is being fought solely for his own vanity.”
Highlighting what he now sees as a key flaw in Putin’s attacks, he added: “At this stage there is simply no clear strategic objective."
Johnson continued: “He is now expending senselessly the lives of young Russians as well as innocent Ukrainians to avoid humiliation. I have always said Putin must fail and Putin will fail because this is an ego-driven mistake.”
Despite speculation that President Putin might use the Moscow parade to declare a military escalation in the conflict, there was no major announcement.
The event was scaled back because so much of Russia’s military hardware and troops are in action in Ukraine but Putin still used it to show off long-range nuclear missiles, tanks and ground-launched ballistic missiles.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said Russia is “mirroring the fascism and tyranny of 70 years ago” in a speech on the invasion of Ukraine.
Stressing that Russian generals involved in the Ukraine campaign should face war crime trials, Wallace said that they and Putin were mirroring the fascism and tyranny of 77 years ago and their invasion of Ukraine dishonoured the country’s military past.
He said. “He (Putin) must come to terms with how he has lost in the long run, and he’s absolutely lost. Russia is not what it was.”
The UK’s most recent estimate is that around 15,000 Russian troops have been killed in the invasion which started on February 24, with three or four times as many believed to have been wounded or incapacitated.
Tens of thousands of Ukraine civilians are also reported to have been killed, with Russians resorting to indiscriminate shelling and air strikes given the failure of ground forces to seize territory, particularly at the start of the military campaign. Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have also been killed.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
