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Ukraine's world heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk says he has “absolutely no fear” after taking up arms in Kiev to defend his homeland against invading Russian forces.
Usyk, holder of the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight straps after beating Britain's Anthony Joshua in London six months ago, has joined Ukraine’s territorial defence battalion.
Speaking from a basement in the Ukrainian capital, Usyk said through a translator that he was prepared to kill the enemy to defend his homeland.
"If they will want to take my life, or the lives of my close ones, I will have to do it," he said. "But I don't want that. I don't want to shoot, I don't want to kill anybody, but if they will be killing me, I will have no choice."
While Usyk admitted his bewilderment at an escalating situation that has shocked most of the rest of the world, the former undisputed world cruiserweight champion believes he is ready for whatever lies in front of him.
“Maybe, it will sound sentimental but my soul belongs to the Lord and my body and my honour belong to my country, to my family, so there is no fear, absolutely no fear,” Usyk told CNN.
“There’s just bafflement – how could this be in the 21st Century?"
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Oleksandr Usyk after beating Anthony Joshua in their heavyweight title bout at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on Saturday, September 25, 2021. Getty -
Anthony Joshua walks away from the ring after losing to Oleksandr Usyk. AP -
Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine celebrates after his unanimous decision victory over Britain's Anthony Joshua. AP -
Oleksandr Usyk throws a punch at Anthony Joshua. AP -
Anthony Joshua on the defensive against Oleksandr Usyk. AP -
Oleksandr Usyk throws a punch at Anthony Joshua. AP -
Anthony Joshua before his fight with Oleksandr Usyk. AP -
Close up of Anthony Joshua's injuries during a press conference after defeat in the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO title fight agianst Oleksandr Usyk. AP -
Oleksandr Usyk celebrates after the fight. Getty -
Oleksandr Usyk celebrates after being crowned the new heavyweight world champion. Getty -
Oleksandr Usyk celebrates with his team in the ring. Getty -
Oleksandr Usyk celebrates. Getty -
Oleksandr Usyk celebrates. Getty -
Oleksandr Usyk celebrates. Getty -
Anthony Joshua following his defeat. Getty -
Oleksandr Usyk punches as Anthony Joshua ducks. Getty Images -
Oleksandr Usyk throws a punch as Anthony Joshua. Getty -
Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua during their title bout. Getty -
Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk during the fight. Getty -
Anthony Joshua after his loss to Oleksandr Usyk. Reuters -
Anthony Joshua lands a punch. Getty -
Anthony Joshua goes on the attack. Getty Images -
Oleksandr Usyk punches Anthony Joshua. Getty -
Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk during the fight. Getty -
A dejected Anthony Joshua walks back to his corner. Getty -
Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk during the fight. Getty -
Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk during the fight. Getty
Usyk, 35, admitted the rematch against Joshua – which was expected to take place this spring – was far from his thoughts, saying he did not know when he would return to the ring.
“I really don’t know when I’m going to be stepping back in the ring. My country and my honour are more important to me than a championship belt.”
Usyk has previously called on the Russian people to resist the war and for the country's president Vladimir Putin to engage in peace talks without pre-conditions or claims to Ukrainian territory.
Vasiliy Lomachenko, the three-weight world champion regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet, has joined his compatriot Usyk by enlisting in the Ukraine military too.
Lomachenko's decision to enlist would appear to scupper his own plans of a June showdown against WBA, IBF and WBO lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr.
Meanwhile, Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko and his brother Wladimir – both former world heavyweight boxing champions – have appeared together calling for more support from allies to defend Ukraine.
Wladimir said there were “never enough” resources as the country’s infrastructure has been partially crippled by shelling during a “terrible advance” over the past few days.
Mayor Vitali and his brother thanked governments which had provided international help but said basic supplies like food and water were needed as well as more weapons.
In a joint interview on BBC News, Wladimir said: “It’s never enough. There’s huge demand because infrastructure is partially destroyed by the shelling that is happening all over the country in the different cities.
“It’s absolutely not enough and we definitely need to support and help – financial support, military equipment support, medical support.”
Vitali added: “Everyone has to be involved. It’s war not against Ukraine, it’s war against [all] civilians and it’s war against democracy. We need support – support from the whole world.”
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A monitor displays a projectile striking the regional state administration building in Kharkiv, as the Russian invasion continues. Reuters -
People help a wounded woman in the aftermath of Russian shelling in Kharkiv. EPA -
Ukrainian emergency service personnel carry the body of a victim following shelling in Kharkiv. AP -
Students who fled the conflict rest in a refugee camp in Voluntari, Romania. AP -
Members of an Ukrainian civil defence unit pass new assault rifles to the opposite side of a blown-up bridge on Kiev’s northern front. AFP -
Civilians cross a river on Kiev's northern front. AFP -
A woman takes photos of a destroyed accommodation building near a checkpoint in Brovary, outside Kiev. AP -
The city hall of Kharkiv, damaged by Russian shelling. AFP -
Debris litters the square outside the damaged Kharkiv city hall. AFP -
A Ukrainian woman sleeps on the floor of the railway station in Zahonyi close to the Hungary/Ukraine border. AFP -
A medical worker attends to wounded man at a hospital in Brovary, outside Kiev. AP -
Refugees from Ukraine in a tent at the Medyka border crossing, Poland. AP -
Debris outside the regional administration building, which city officials said was hit by a missile, in Kharkiv. Reuters -
A student evacuated from Ukraine is embraced by her family after arriving at Tunis-Carthage International Airport in Tunisia. AFP -
Rescuers in a building damaged by a missile in central Kharkiv. Reuters -
An ambulance is visible through the damaged window of a vehicle hit by bullets in Kiev, Ukraine. Reuters -
Territorial defence members prepare to head out on patrol in Kiev. EPA -
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres delivers a speech on screen during the opening of the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. AP -
A policeman detains a young demonstrator during a protest against Russia's attack on Ukraine in St Petersburg, Russia. AP -
Local residents in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, prepare Molotov cocktails. Reuters -
Residents clean a bomb shelter under an out-of-service cinema in central Zhytomyr. Reuters -
Ukrainian volunteers tear cloth into strips to make camouflage nets in Lviv, western Ukraine. AP -
Part of the military convoy north-west of Invankiv, Ukraine. AP -
Mark Goncharuk, a young boy from Kiev, leaves his father behind as he travels with the rest of his family towards the border. Reuters -
People hold an anti-war protest outside the Russian Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico. Reuters -
A crater caused by shelling on the outskirts of Kiev. AFP -
People queue outside a grocery store in the Ukrainian capital. EPA -
Ukrainian soldiers stand at Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square, in Kiev. EPA -
Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation, second left, and Davyd Arakhamia, faction leader of the Servant of the People party in the Ukrainian Parliament, third right, attend the peace talks in the Gomel region of Belarus. AP -
People who have fled the Russian invasion in Ukraine, clamour to board a bus bound for a refugee centre established in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters -
Hanna Pavlovna Lukasz, from Mirhord, Ukraine, said her sons, aged 12 and 8, and her 66-year-old mother had been waiting on the Ukrainian side of the border crossing with Medyka, Poland, for four days. AP -
A volunteer from Kiev prepares a rear post with trenches in the city. AFP -
A child being treated for cancer rests in the bomb shelter of the oncology ward at a hospital in Kiev. Getty -
Police officers check occupants of a suspicious car in Kiev, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues. Reuters -
A woman from Ukraine uses a phone to listen to a speech by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a refugee shelter in Beregsurany, Hungary. Reuters -
Shelves empty of bread after a curfew was lifted as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kiev. Reuters -
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, left, and President Zelenskyy. AFP -
Snow-covered shoes donated for those fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland. Reuters -
People who have fled Ukraine wait for a bus to transport them away from the border crossing in Medyka. Reuters -
Norwegian soldiers of the Nato-enhanced forward presence battalion pose at a military plane as they arrive at an airport in Kaunas, Lithuania. AP -
A person fleeing Ukraine sits during snowfall at a temporary camp in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters -
Footage reportedly of Russian Buk missile system vehicles on a road before a drone strike near Malyn, Ukraine. Reuters -
An explosion after what are said to be Russian Buk missile system vehicles on a road are struck by a drone. Reuters -
The monument to Russian troops from the Second World War, after the figures’ hands were painted red, at the Red Army memorial in Sofia, Bulgaria. EPA -
The Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, is lit up with the colours of Ukraine’s national flag in a show of support. AP -
Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the construction site of the National Space Agency on the premises of the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Centre, in Moscow. EPA -
A man looks out from a train, at the railway station in Lviv, Ukraine. The UN has estimated the conflict could produce as many as four million refugees. AP -
A Ukrainian boy waits for his mother after passing the border crossing point in Siret, northern Romania. EPA -
Russian policemen detain a demonstrator in St Petersburg, during a protest against the country's military actions in Ukraine. EPA -
Ukrainian soldiers at a check point in the city of Zhytomyr. Reuters -
Residents prepare petrol bombs to defend the city, in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. Reuters -
A pro-Russian fighter sits inside a tank in the separatist self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, in the Luhansk region, Ukraine. Reuters -
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, second left, and Head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and First Deputy Defence Minister Valery Gerasimov, left, during their meeting in Moscow. AP -
Ukrainians and supporters gather during a demonstration in front of the Greek Parliament in Athens against the Russian military's operation in Ukraine. AFP -
Ukrainian Territorial Defence fighters test an automatic grenade launcher taken from a destroyed Russian infantry mobility vehicla after a battle in Kharkiv. AFP
