Spox for Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko Disputes AP Report, Says Klitschko Misspoke When He Said Ukraine Capital is ‘Encircled’ (UPDATE)
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Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko says that people looking escape Ukraine’s capital at this point have no way to do so. But his spokesperson is now denying this report, saying that Klitschko misspoke and the idea that Kyiv is surrounded is “a lie and a manipulation.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Klitschko asked if there are plans to evacuate the capital if Russian troops should Russian troops overtake the city.
“We can’t do that, because all ways are blocked,” Klitschko said. “Right now we are encircled.”
Klitschko, the former heavyweight boxing champion, added that he had just spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and said, of that conversation, “everybody is not feeling so well.”
“We are at the border of a humanitarian catastrophe,” he said. “Right now, we have electricity, right now we have water and heating in our houses. But the infrastructure is destroyed to deliver the food and medication.”
Klitschko and his brother Wladimir Klitschko, likewise a former heavyweight champion of the world, have been lauded for remaining behind in Kyiv and taking up arms to fight the Russian invasion.
“The message for everyone is: Support Ukraine together … We are strong,” Vitali Klitschko told the AP. “Every Ukrainian is proud to be independent, proud to be Ukrainian, and we are proud to have our own country.”
UPDATE 3:26 p.m. ET — The Kyiv Independent is reporting that Klitschko’s spokeperson is saying that the mayor “misspoke” in the interview, and disputed the idea that the Ukraine capital is surrounded.
⚡️Klitschko's spokesperson denies that Kyiv is 'encircled.'
In an interview with AP, Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that ‘Kyiv was encircled’ but ready to fight.
His spokesperson said that he misspoke, and that such information is “a lie and a manipulation.”
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) February 27, 2022
