The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has added former British Defense Minister Ben Wallace (who held the post from 2019 to 2023) to its federal wanted list for criminal charges. This information appeared in the Ministry of Internal Affairs' official database on May 13, 2026.

Although the specific article on the wanted list is not specified, law enforcement agencies reported that the basis for the wanted list could have been a criminal case initiated under the terrorism article (presumably Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - public calls for terrorism).

The case was opened following Wallace's remarks in September 2025 at the Warsaw Security Forum. Addressing the audience, the former minister called on Western allies to provide Ukraine with long-range weapons for strikes on Crimea. He declared the need to "strangle Crimea" and "make it uninhabitable," and called for "destroying the Crimean Bridge," calling it a "statue of Putin's ego" and a "damned bridge."

The wanted list appeared in the Ministry of Internal Affairs database on the eve of the former British minister's 56th birthday, which he will celebrate on May 15. Previously, in November 2025, Moscow's Basmanny Court had already arrested Ben Wallace in absentia.