Petraeus: Mariupol becoming a ‘Ukrainian Alamo’

Former CIA Director David Petraeus on Sunday called Mariupol “a Ukrainian Alamo” that ultimately “looks as if it’s going to have to collapse.”

“It’s fighting to the last defender and pinning down multiple Russian battalions, and doing so very heroically,” he said on ABC’s “This Week” of Ukrainian defenders fighting Russian forces. “But ultimately it looks as if it’s going to have to collapse. It’s going to be taken.”

“And when it does, that is a moment of some peril for Ukraine because now that port can be used by the Russians,” the retired Army general added.

Once Russians have that port, Petraeus said, several battalions that have been closing in on Mariupol will be able to push further north in order to gain control of the Donbas region

Retired Gen. David Petraeus says the city of Mariupol is becoming “a Ukrainian Alamo.”

“Fighting to the last defender…But ultimately it looks as if it’s going to have to collapse. It’s going to be taken.” https://t.co/ZpRUsGoL8d pic.twitter.com/S5U9EP3xxG

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 27, 2022

“This is going to be a very tenuous period over the next few days as we see what happens in Mariupol, what the Russians are able to do as a result of it and then how the Ukrainians can respond,” Petraeus explained. “Because it’s a very long distance from anywhere where they might have forces that they can possibly spare.”

He added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is “very understandably” asking for more help, despite support from NATO and the U.S., saying he was like “a battlefield commander.”

“And no commander has ever had enough forces, drones, air force, whatever it may be,” he said. “And that’s the position he finds himself and we should understand that and what we need to do is provide everything we can that can be provided without needlessly provoking a direct confrontation with Russia.”