Kyiv Mayor Says Russia Wants to Occupy All of Ukraine
The mayor of kyiv, former boxer Vitali Klitschko, has denounced at the Davos Economic Forum that Russia’s main objective continues to be to gain control of Ukraine and its capital. “It is clear that this is not a special operation, as Russia claims, but a war, one of the largest since World War II,” said the mayor, according to the British newspaper The Guardian.
“It is no secret that Russia’s priority is to occupy the entire country and its main objective is the capital of Ukraine, the heart of the country,” said the former world heavyweight champion turned politician. He has also denounced that “thousands of people have died, including many children”, as everyone has been able to see with the images of cities like Bucha.
“Everyone understands that this is not a special operation, it is the genocide of the Ukrainian people,” he said.
Since the Russian troops abandoned the siege of the Ukrainian capital to focus on the east of the country, Klitschko assures that his main task is to restore security and return the city to normality. “It is not an easy task,” he has said, since “electricity is restored, but services such as transportation do not work as well as before.” In any case, he points out that the main problem now is security.
Klitschko has reported that during the weeks in which the capital was the target of Russian attacks, 120 people were killed, including 4 children, and more than 300 were injured; More than 200 residential buildings were damaged and a refinery near kyiv and logistics centers for food distribution were destroyed. He has estimated the reconstruction of the destroyed infrastructure in kyiv at around 80 million euros. “We appreciate any support, investment, help, but first we have to stop the war,” he said.
In the middle of the press conference, the mayor has reproduced an audio from his mobile, with the powerful sound of air raid sirens. “We hear this alarm three or four times a day,” he has said. Klitschko has been “proud” of the Ukrainian soldiers who managed to expel the Russian forces, and has said that the towns of Bucha, Borodianka, Irpin and Gostomel, in the kyiv region, where civilian massacres took place, were lucky of shield.