Vitali Klitschko never has run from a fight before, and isn’t about to now. This one, though, is one that may well kill him.
He is the mayor of Kyiv, but he’s become the leader of Ukraine’s defensive efforts against Russia. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a one-time stand-up comedian, spent the past several weeks condemning Russia’s military building up and asking for a diplomatic solution. He accomplished little to nothing.
He’s a brilliant man with the courage to match his fearsome size and strength, and he knows how important he is to his fellow citizens. “Our eastern neighbor is not happy with our decision to become part of the European family,” Klitschko told the U.K.'s Channel 4 News last month. “We do not want to return to the USSR. We were in the USSR and we see our future as part of a European family. Mr. Putin disagrees. They have an idea to rebuild the Soviet Union, but we do not want to return to the USSR. We see our future as a free democracy.
As an athlete, Klitschko has shown boundless courage in the face of extreme adversity throughout his career. He showed that in a boxing ring in 2003 when he fought Lennox Lewis in Los Angeles and suffered a gaping wound over his eye. He wanted to continue and protested vehemently when the referee decided the cut was too severe.
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