Kiev was the goal and still is the goal. They want to occupy and own the whole country,” Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitsjko said in an interview with European journalist Geert Jan Hahn in the Ukrainian capital. Klitschko says Putin will try again. And Ukraine was not well prepared for war .
“We were not well prepared for war. If the government was ready, how could they (the Russians, ed) have reached the borders of our capital so quickly? My personal opinion is that we weren’t well prepared for this. We didn’t expect the Russians to go straight to Kiev.”
According to Klitschko, the advance of Russian troops on Kiev in the first days of the war was a close choice. Kiev has a special status. It is the capital of the country, the heart of Ukraine. Therefore, at the beginning of the war, the Russian Armed Forces were very close. However, they didn’t expect how tough our soldiers would be.’
“We Were Not Well Prepared for War”
Klitschko admits the Ukrainians knew an invasion was imminent. “We knew they wanted it, but everyone was hoping it didn’t happen. But to be honest, we weren’t prepared for that. It was a shock to everyone that the Russians got so close. It was only 10 kilometers from here. Hostomel is a satellite city of Kiev. The first months of the war were only critical. Because we were already preparing for street fights in our city.”
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Grand Prix
The Ukrainian forces not only managed to stop the Russians but also drove them back to their starting positions. However, Klitsjko is under no illusions: Putin will still try to take the top prize. Kiev was the goal and still is the goal. They want to occupy and own the whole country. But I doubt they can.’
Because according to Klitsjko, that ultimately remains Putin’s only ambition: “He wants to occupy all of Ukraine.” “This war can be stopped by only one person: Putin. But he doesn’t want it. He wants to occupy all of Ukraine, he has this crazy idea that he has a Soviet empire again. Poland and the Baltic countries have already warned about this. And for him that Soviet empire is much more important than the lives of millions of people».
“He wants to occupy all of Ukraine”
Ukraine without Ukrainians
Klitschko says Putin needs Ukraine “as a territory, as an area”. “But without us, without Ukrainians.” And as a result, the Ukrainians have no choice but to fight. ‘People are angry. So angry that they are ready to defend themselves, to fight. It’s a difficult situation now, a difficult time. But it’s important to fight for our vision, our country, our independence, our families. We are fighting for a European future and for the democracy of our country.’
“Kiev was the target and still is”
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Kiev currently has a population of 3.6 million, including 300,000 refugees. For them, Klitsjko has two priorities: the safety and functioning of city services, in short, the infrastructure of life in a city. But safety is number 1, even if the mayor realizes he can’t guarantee it. “The missiles could hit our city at any moment.”
Safety
Our first priority is safety, second is to get all facilities working again. Gas, water, light, medicine, education, it works.’ Despite this appearance of normality and a peaceful atmosphere, Klitschko underlines how much the city is at war. Air raids, rocket strikes, drone strikes. This means that everyone has to go back to the shelter. The alarm in Kiev went off about 700 times. If you do the math, each inhabitant spent more than a month of his life underground.”
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
