President Putin goal is to stifle Ukraine’s ports on the Azov,

President Putin goal is to stifle Ukraine’s ports on the Azov, US Army Lt. Gen. Ret. Ben Hodges tells Washington’s Military Times. “They won’t stop until they completely own the Sea of Azov and have choked out Ukraine’s very important seaport of Mariupol,” said Hodges, who commanded United States Army Europe until one year ago. “The next phase will probably be land and sea operations that would eventually secure maybe even Mariupol, but continue to take the Ukrainian coastline and connect Crimea back up to Russia along the Sea of Azov.”