Russia's invasion of Ukraine affects Germany in a direct way, Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Monday while on a visit to Hamburg, the city where he and his brother Vladimir launched their professional boxing careers.
Klitschko said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking to re-establish the Soviet Union. "And you Germans should not forget that a part of Germany, where Putin worked for years as a KGB agent, was also part of the greater Russian Soviet empire," he added.
Ukraine is now fighting to defend "each one of you against Putin," said Klitschko, a former world heavyweight boxing champion, while speaking in Hamburg's city hall alongside Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher.
"We would rather live without water and without electricity than with Russian soldiers. We are fighting for our European future," he said, describing the invasion not as war but as terrorism and genocide.
Detailing the destruction in Kiev, Klitschko said that 162 civilians had died in the course of the hostilities, including five children, and almost 800 buildings had been destroyed. Russia had attempted to freeze people to death, by attacking critical infrastructure.
"This has been the most difficult winter for our city of all time. But we have kept going and have fought back," he said.
Klitschko was accompanied by his younger brother Vladimir, who was also a world champion heavyweight boxer. The trip marks the first anniversary of a solidarity pact between Kiev and Hamburg.
Tschentscher announced that he now plans to visit Kiev.
