“We are not going to surrender. (…) Our biggest motivation is to defend our homes, our cities, our families, our children,” said on Thursday (3) the mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, married for 26 years and father of three children.
As he gave an interview to Reuters, Russian troops were advancing to take over Europe’s biggest nuclear plant. The day before, in a video posted on social media, Klitschko had sent a message: “Kiev resists and will resist”.
Even before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, Klitschko began organizing Kiev’s 3 million people. In early February, in an interview with AFP, he recalled that he served in the army — the mayor, by the way, was one of the guests at the wedding, in the midst of the war, of soldiers Valery and Lesya, both from Kiev, which took place this Sunday (6) .
And when the Russians started the war, Klitschko said that he would take up arms and fight at the front alongside his brother Wladimir, who presented himself for combat. “I have no other option,” said the mayor.
Klitschko, 50, born in Belovodskoye, Kyrgyzstan, has led the Ukrainian capital since 2014. He was elected after becoming one of the leaders of the anti-Russian protests nearly a decade ago and less than a year after announcing the end of one of the most successful and unorthodox careers in boxing history.
At 2.01 m and working in the heavyweight division (over 91 kg), Klitschko has run over his opponents since the first time he stepped into a ring as a professional, in 1996.
He won by knockout 24 straight fights, defeating almost all opponents in a maximum of two rounds. At the 25th, in June 1999, he competed for the World Boxing Organization title. The result was the standard: victory by knockout in the second round.
When he retired, the Ukrainian giant boasted a record of 47 fights, with 45 wins (41 by knockout) and 3 world titles, adding up to more than 7 years with the belt. He suffered only two defeats, both by injury. He was never brought down and lived up to his nickname, Dr. Iron fist.
But Vitali Klitschko did not reign alone. His brother Wladimir, 5 years younger and 3 centimeters shorter, accumulated 12 years as a world champion and went 11 years undefeated. Surname? Dr. Steel Hammer.
The Doctor.” it’s not free. In 2000, already a world boxing champion, Vitali defended his doctoral thesis in sports science at Kiev University and became the first professional heavyweight to reach this academic level. Wladimir followed in the footsteps shortly afterwards.
The two thugs are also multilingual (Ukrainian, Russian, German, English, a little French) and love to play chess.
They may face off on the boards out of dilettantism, but they’ve never clashed with gloves. From 2008 to 2013, they dominated the ring and shared the main titles among themselves. If one of the Klitschkos competed in one organization, the other competed in the others.
In 2000, when Vitali lost his belt to American Chris Byrd, Wladimir was the new champion’s first challenger and took the title back to the Klitschko family.
They learned from an early age to take care of each other. The father, a former general in the Soviet Air Force, taught that siblings should support each other and always know how the other is doing. When Vitali went up to the ring, Wladimir was outside with a towel. And vice versa.
When Vitali decided to enter politics, Wladimir was against it at first, but he didn’t stop helping.
They learned from an early age to take care of each other. The father, a former general in the Soviet Air Force, taught that siblings should support each other and always know how the other is doing. When Vitali went up to the ring, Wladimir was outside with a towel. And vice versa.
When Vitali decided to enter politics, Wladimir was against it at first, but he didn’t stop helping.
The eldest of the brothers had been impressed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose poster had hung in his childhood bedroom. If a bodybuilder can get into politics, why not a boxer?
The gateway was the Orange Revolution of 2004-2005, a series of demonstrations against alleged electoral fraud in Ukraine. The Klitschkos were involved to varying degrees.
Vitali became an adviser to Viktor Yushchenko, the oppositionist who assumed the presidency in 2005. Wladimir took advantage of his cameo in the blockbuster “The 11 Men and a Secret” and collected statements of support from celebrities.
From then on, Vitali Klitschko was torn between boxing and politics. He tried to be mayor of Kiev in 2006, but came in second. However, he managed to get a seat on the Municipal Council, a sort of City Council.
Four years later, while defending the world title, he founded the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform, a party that defends rapprochement with Europe.
Klitschko took advantage of his fame in the West to accumulate political capital for the club, whose acronym in Ukrainian, Udar, means “punch”.
During the 2014 anti-Russian protests, he used his notoriety to meet with leaders from the US and several European countries. He even launched himself as a candidate for president, but gave up a few months after the election and ran for mayor of the capital.
“The situation calls for consolidation and unification of efforts,” he said at the time at his party’s convention. “This can only be achieved if we don’t divide the votes between democratic candidates.”
He supported tycoon Petro Poroshenko, who won the race with 54% of the vote.
Unusual attitude in politics, but not for Vitali Klitschko, who never quite fit into stereotypes.
