On defending the city, which has come under sustained shelling since Russia advanced on Ukraine Feb. 24, Klitschko said: “Right now, huge patriotic waves … people who never, ever expect to take weapons in hand right now to defend houses, children and our future, the future of our country.”
Klitschko appeared with his brother, Wladimir, also a boxer who has joined the fight on the ground in Kyiv, who said: “The whole country is highly motivated to stop Russian aggression and the war. There is nothing that is possibly can break the will of our women and men. We all stand together and we’re highly motivated to defend our country because this is our home. We will defend the country until the last drop of the blood.”
The brothers delivered a plea to Western governments to further sanction Russia and deliver weapons to Ukraine.
“We’re fighting for the same values, the same principles. This war can touch anyone — everyone, everyone in the European Union, in Europe and can touch everyone in the world,” the mayor said.
“Right now every Ukrainian is target. Every Ukrainian. It’s a war against whole population,” he added.