‘Spent force Putin has sent thousands to their deaths'

Exhausted Russian troops now rank as biggest casualty, claims Britain

- Nicholas Cecil ,Will Stewart

VLADIMIR PUTIN has sent thousands of Russian soldiers to their deaths in the first 13 days of his invasion of Ukraine, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said today.

He accused the Russian president of “arrogance” in his military plan, of letting down his troops and now resorting to increasingly “indiscriminate” attacks on towns and cities, killing hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians.

“Whatever we think about President Putin, he is done. He is a spent force in the world. No one will be taking his phone calls in the long term,” Mr Wallace argued on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “He has exhausted his army, he is responsible for thousands of Russian soldiers being killed, responsible for innocent people... civilians being killed in Ukraine.”

Mr Wallace added: “He is reducing his economy to zero, because the international community has decided that it is absolutely unacceptable what he’s done.”

The Kremlin has admitted that 498 Russian troops have been killed, but the figure is believed to be significantly higher, with Ukraine claiming more than 11,000, although this may well be an exaggeration.

Despite Russia’s superior firepower, Mr Wallace told Sky News: “Probably the biggest single casualties so far in the war are Russian military soldiers who have been let down by appalling leaders, appalling leadership, and appalling plans. Now you see them literally at large scale dying.”