Tuesday, December 14, 2021
Ready to fight for motherland
Vitali Klitschko warns of a Russian invasion
The ex-boxer Vitali Klitschko sees an imminent invasion of Russia. As mayor of Kiev, he would have intensified the recruitment and training of reservists. At the same time he calls for European support.
The mayor of the Ukrainian capital Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, has warned of a Russian invasion. “We are preparing all over Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin could give the war order,” said Klitschko in a guest article in the “Bild” newspaper. “As a soldier, I once swore to defend the country, and I am now ready to fight for my motherland.”
As mayor, he organizes the civil defense of the capital. His authorities have already stepped up the recruitment and training of reservists for the Territorial Defense Brigade. “There are different scenarios of how the Russian army can attack Ukraine, we have to be prepared for all of them,” Klitschko makes clear. Russia has pulled tens of thousands of soldiers together on the border with Ukraine in recent weeks. This feeds fears in the West that an invasion of the Russian army in the neighboring country might be imminent. Moscow denies this and accuses the government in Kiev of provocations.
In eastern Ukraine, pro-Russian militias and the Ukrainian army have been fighting each other since 2014 after Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. In the conflict, Moscow supports the separatists who have proclaimed so-called People’s Republics in Luhansk and Donetsk. More than 13,000 people have already been killed in the fighting. A Franco-German peace plan agreed in 2015 is on hold. The current armistice is broken again and again. In view of the serious threat, Klitschko urged “international support and military aid”. “We are a European country that needs European support more than ever.”
Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock spoke to her Ukrainian colleague Dmytro Kuleba on the phone about solving the ongoing conflict in Donbass. “We very much appreciate that the coalition agreement of Germany’s new government paid special attention to restoring peace in our state,” said Kuleba, according to a statement. The 40-year-old emphasized that the security issue was at the beginning of the peace process. Only then will political concessions be possible. Kuleba invited the Green politician to an official visit to Kiev.