more here on the reports of american and european military bigwigs trapped in mariupol;

There have been unconfirmed rumors on social media that US Army Major General Cloutier has been captured by the Russian forces in Mariupol.

Intel Slava Z, a Telegram channel, reported earlier that NATO officers from Germany, France, the UK and Sweden were trapped with Azov fighters in Mariupol.

Some frantic efforts to rescue these trapped individuals have been recorded. Western powers would not like to see NATO commanders or mercenaries eventually paraded with Azov fighters for obvious historical purposes. The optics of fighting for Nazis is not a popular one.

There are even rumors of a captured US general but they could not be confirmed. The general in question is to the Ukrainian military what Victoria Nuland is to Ukrainian politicians – an instrumental figure.

US Army Major General Cloutier may have been captured by the Russian forces in Mariupol. As an old-school, hands-on military man, he was photographed many times on the ground inside Ukraine before the war, training the Ukrainian Army to NATO standards. In a press conference Cloutier described Ukrainians as his brothers........read more.......