Former heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, says he plans to take up arms along with his brother to defend against Russia's invasion.
But I am going to have my people there and my family is safe." "My family is there in the middle of everything. Friends, we have to stop this war; all of us together. "Now, the Russian president [Vladimir Putin] is using war rhetoric ... he makes it clear that he wants to destroy the Ukrainian state and the sovereignty of its people," Wladimir Klitschko wrote on Linkedin on Thursday. "Words are followed by missiles and tanks. I have to do that. I would fight."
After Hall of Fame boxing careers, Vitali Klitschko and Wladimir Klitschko are again on the world stage, united in Ukraine's fight against Russia's ...
“We do not want to return to the USSR. We were in the USSR and we see our future as part of a European family. They have an idea to rebuild the Soviet Union, but we do not want to return to the USSR. We see our future as a free democracy.” How all Vitali Klitschko’s children were born at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. How they would train by running along Venice Beach. The 2003 heavyweight battle between Vitali and Lennox Lewis at Staples Center. Lewis won after Vitali’s eye had become too severely damaged to continue. “Now, the Russian president [Vladimir Putin] is using war rhetoric ... he makes it clear that he wants to destroy the Ukrainian state and the sovereignty of its people,” Wladimir wrote on LinkedIn on Thursday. “Words are followed by missiles and tanks. It’s the same year Russia invaded eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea. “Our eastern neighbor is not happy with our decision to become part of the European family,” Vitali Klitschko told Britain’s Channel 4 News last month. On Friday, volunteer fighters patrolled the streets of Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Ukrainians to stand up and defend their country. I have to do that. Destruction and death come upon us. One never faced a knockdown in the ring. “I don’t have another choice. The other was undefeated for a decade.
Vitali is mayor of Kyiv and, along with his younger brother Wladimir, both former boxing champions, is ready to defend his country against Russia.
Vitali -- the mayor of Kyiv -- said he doesn't 'have another choice' but to fight against Russian invaders.
Let history be a lesson to not be repeated. "The world is watching how reckless and deadly imperialism is, not just for #Ukraine but the whole world," Wladimir wrote. Subscribe to Morning Kombat with Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell for the best analysis and in-depth news. The world is watching how reckless and deadly imperialism is, not just for— Klitschko (@Klitschko) #Ukrainebut the whole world. Also Thursday, Vitali Klitschko told Good Morning Britain he was ready to fight in what's "already a bloody war." "I'm calling to all international partners to observe this tragedy that is happening nowadays in Ukraine," Wladimir said.
Who are the Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladimir, legendary heavyweight boxing champions helping defend Ukraine against the Russian invasion?
Their father was Wladimir Rodionovich Klitschko, a former colonel in the Soviet Union’s air force who helped respond to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986. Wladimir was briefly engaged to his ex-partner and American actress Hayden Panettiere, but the couple never married and split in 2018. Wladimir was married to his ex-wife, Aleksandra, briefly from 1996 to 1998. His foray into politics began in 2006 during his boxing career when he unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Kyiv. He was instead elected to the city council that year. He has served as Kyiv’s mayor since 2014 and was a member of the country’s parliament from 2012 to 2014. He retired in 2017 with a record of 64 victories and five defeats . The brothers, however, never faced off against each other in the ring. In early 2014, Klitschko ran for mayor of Kyiv, after walking back an announcement that he would run for president. His younger brother and fellow Hall of Fame boxer, Wladimir Klitschko, vowed to do the same. He became mayor of Kyiv the following year in 2014. Wladimir had a more accomplished career than his older brother. Vitali Klitschko is the mayor of Kyiv and a Hall of Fame boxer who competed in the heavyweight division from 1996 to 2012.