Retired boxing world champion, Wladimir Klitschko, appeared on N1 Television's afternoon programme to talk live from Kyiv about the situation in war-torn Ukraine.
Klitschko, whose brother Vitali is the mayor of Kyiv, talked about the latest developments in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol and the atmosphere in Kyiv nearly two months since Russia launched its invasion on Ukraine.
“As for now, the situation in Mariupol in the southeast of the country is devastating. Civilians, injured people are still there, as well as the Ukrainian military forces. And for many weeks they’ve been without any electricity, food, water. And there have been multiple attempts to open humanitarian corridors so that the injured and civilians can leave, but it never worked… We need our allies and partners of the free world to stop this Russian invasion and support us in different ways, with humanitarian aid and also with sanctions and isolation, the economic isolation of Russia, and also weaponry. Military support is extremely important because if Russia isn’t stopped in its invasion on Ukraine, they will they will go on further – as they announced in their propaganda, Ukraine is just the beginning,” Klitschko told N1 Television’s Iva Puljic-Sego.
He commented on reports of atrocities committed by Russian forces in many places around the country, especially in the formerly occupied areas near Kyiv which Russian army had been holding onto before retreating earlier this month.
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“Wherever there was Russian army, genocide occurred against the Ukrainian population and according to their propaganda, Ukrainians, and Ukraine, are just a “mistake of history” and basically we have no right to exist. That have been multiple cases of this, in places like Bucha, Hostomel, Irpin, which are satellite cities on the outskirts of the capital of Ukraine Kyiv. Then there was Kharkiv, as well as Mariupol, and also Kramatorsk. So, all those cities have been destroyed, not just partially but completely, and Ukrainian civilians were raped, tortured, and murdered, and there were many, many cases of it. And justice must come, and will eventually come, because behind every killing, every murder and every torture and rape there’s a first name and a last name of the people responsible for it… So, justice will eventually occur, and it’s very important that during the time of the war, that we get the support that we’ve been asking for, for almost two months now,” he said.
Klitschko was asked to comment whether he thought that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin would be tried for war crimes after the massacres documented by Western media in Ukraine.
“Before the Russian invasion on Ukraine started the leaders of the free world have multiple times announced, and told Russia, that if Russia proceeds with this that the consequences would be severe. Well Ukrainians have suffered through those severe consequences for almost two months, or 57 days of war, now. And obviously, as it is, in every war, there is the beginning of the war and the end of the war. And there are always names behind every crime that are known. And it’s not just one person and it’s not just the commander of Russia, Putin, but also people that have been involved directly or indirectly helping this invasion and this murdering of the Ukrainian population. I strongly believe that justice will come and it must come,” Klitschko said.
He was adamant that Ukrainian people are determined to keep on fighting the Russian invasion.
“We will stand for freedom and our choice to be associated with the European family. Because we do share the same democratic principles, and Ukraine is our home, where our families, our children, our relatives, are living, or are buried in the ground – this is our home. And I’m sure that any other nation would have done the same thing. Not just surrender, but fight for their rights and not be on our knees like slaves, but live, as I said, in the European family, with democratic principles. And we fight for it, and we stand with our will against this senseless war and war crimes, and we will continue the same way, because our will is stronger than any army or any weapon,” Klitschko said.
Iva Puljic-Sego asked Klitschko whether the experience of this war has made him hate Russians.
“Half of me, half of my blood is Russian. My mom is Russian. My dad is Ukrainian. I am Ukrainian. It’s not about nationality. It’s about people that are committing this crime in Ukraine. And this is about Putin’s regime that is leading its own people into this senseless war, and motivating this crime that has been committed in multiple cities and in many cases all around Ukraine. As I said, one more time, it’s not about nationalism. We are patriots. We are patriotic about our country.
And we have never hated anyone or attacked anyone or threatened anyone. Instead, we were attacked. And we’ve been victims of murder. And we will stand against this senseless war, and against anyone who wants to kill us. That’s what any nation would do. And history has shown that it’s not about the nationality, your skin color, your religion or anything else. It’s about the action, about what you do. And I hope that there are consequences for the deeds that Russia has done, and the criminal war that Russia is waging in Ukraine. There is going to be justice in international courts,” Klitschko said.
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