KYIV (Reuters) – Kyiv mayor and former heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko told Reuters on Friday that he believed there were nearly 2 million people still left in the city, which is being squeezed by advancing Russian forces on several fronts.
He said that the Ukrainian capital, normally home to some 3.5 million people, had enough vital supplies to last a couple of weeks, and that supply lines in and out remained open for now.
His brother Wladimir, also a heavyweight boxing star, added in the joint interview that some of the men and women who had accompanied their families to the relative safety of the west of the country were returning to take part in the city’s defence.
“We guess close to 2 million people are still in Kyiv and it’s very important to give services to people,” Vitali told Reuters in the centre of Kyiv.
“We have right now electricity, heating, gas, we have water,” he added, speaking in English.
He thanked countries for sending supplies to Ukraine, and estimated that Kyiv had enough vital goods to last another two weeks, although supply lines did remain open.
(Reporting by Omer Berberoglu; Writing by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Alison Williams)
