Vitali Klitschko Issues Chilling Warning As Mayoral Kidnappings Continue

The mayor of Ukraine's capital Kyiv has declared that he is 'ready to fight' following reports of kidnappings.

Since President Vladimir Putin sent troops across the border on Thursday, February 24, reports have emerged that multiple Ukrainian mayors have been kidnapped by Russian forces.

Mayors from Dniprorudne and Melitopol are alleged as having been captured in the past few days.

However, Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, but also a former professional boxer, has since vowed that if Russian forces attempt to take him that it will not be 'easy'.

Yesterday, Monday, March 14, in an interview with Fox News on America Reports with John Roberts, Klitschko stated that he is ready to 'fight' the Russians if they come for him

He said: 'I am ready to fight. This will be not easy to do that. Every citizens, nobody is safe, nobody feels safety in our country right now in this very difficult situation. But everyone ready to fight, ready to defend our city, and I am not worried about kidnap.

'I am ready to fight, that’s why I have weapons, that’s why it’s my hometown and I want to defend the interest of my citizens, the interest of my home, the interest of my family.'

Klitschko went on to reflect how the 'war has rules' and that by kidnapping the country's mayors in such an 'un-human' way was breaking them.

He said: 'Never touch children, never touch women, never touch civilians. But Russians doesn’t want the rules and what they want is the symbol, symbol of the city, symbol of community.

'They can’t stop the mood of the people and that’s why they kidnap — kidnap the mayors, and it’s actually against all rules and we see how unfriendly, how un-human activity make Russians in our land.'

Klitschko has also taken to Twitter to document the devastation in the country's capital, sharing a recording which captured the remains of a bus.

He tweeted: 'That's what the Russians war against the civilians looks like. Destroyed buildings, destroyed infrastructure, a city bus just got hit by a rocket, lives are getting lost.

'That's the war that Russia started, that's the city of Kyiv. And many cities of Ukraine were destroyed, lives were taken, that's the truth. There images are the truth of Russia's war against Ukraine.'

On Sunday, the kidnapping of Dniprorudne's mayor Yevhen Matveyev was announced by Ukrainian officials, BBC News reports.

Officials also reported that Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of Melitopol, had been taken two days previously. Fedorov was reportedly replaced by a mayor chosen by Russia.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has since stated that 'the actions of Russian invaders will be equated with the actions of ISIS terrorists'.

If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information 

Topics: Russia, Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, Vladimir Putin

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible and is such a crisp fanatic the office has been forced to release them in batches.