Kyiv mayor tells Trump: Come and see my bombed-out city
Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, has invited Donald Trump to visit the Ukrainian capital to witness for himself the destructive toll of non-stop Russian bombardment.
In an interview with The Telegraph, the former world heavyweight champion boxer said he used to be a tour guide and would be 'very happy' to return to the role for the US president.
Besides the city's historical treasures, he 'will be presenting the buildings where civilians have been killed, children killed' in an effort to secure further defensive weapons for Ukraine.
The day before meeting The Telegraph in his office in city hall, Russia launched one of its largest bombardments on the capital, firing around 300 drones and seven ballistic and cruise missiles on June 11.
On Tuesday, 30 people were killed in a nine-hour-long attack on the city that included a Russian drone flying straight into a residential block, obliterating the building and trapping dozens under the rubble.
What was a fairly intermittent threat to one of Europe's largest capitals has become a constant, harrowing bombardment, with residents spending hours each night in shelters as air defences rattle off gunfire to bring down swarms of whining Shaheds.
Vladimir Putin can now fire over 4,000 drones at Ukraine per month, a tenfold increase compared to this time last year, following massive investment in manufacturing.
'We need more support,' says Mr Klitschko, leaning his 6ft 7in frame forward across the boardroom table. 'Because more and more drones are coming from the Russian Federation.'
Kyiv is one of Ukraine's best-protected cities, using both Patriot air-defence batteries and a network of mobile gun-teams that chase after drones in pick-up trucks. But the sheer volume of attacks means more slip through.
Russia's engineers have 'modernised' the Shahed kamikaze drone with their domestically produced variant known as the Geran, says Mr Klitschko.
'They are already much faster. They fly much higher. And sometimes it's very difficult to identify the drones,' he says. The latest Gerans can piggy-back on Ukrainian internet and mobile network systems, making it much harder to detect and spoof them with electronic warfare countermeasures.
'You question why [we need] the United States,' the mayor says. 'Right now we need the defensive weapons, because we are defending our territorial integrity and our independence.
'My first job, many, many, many years ago, before I started my sports club era, was working as a tour guide in my home town. And I will be very happy to make an excursion for Trump.'
Getting the attention of the White House is a challenge, one made all the more difficult by the launch of Israel's war against Iran and its nuclear programme.
Some 20,000 anti-drone missiles destined for Ukraine were recently transferred to the Middle East. Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, announced that from next year the US will no longer purchase new arms for Ukraine.
Mr Trump often appears ringside at the Ultimate Fighting Championship, hugging and posing for pictures with the blood-slicked winners. Could Mr Klitschko, who was known as Dr Ironfist in the ring, appeal to him this way?
'We actually fought in Taj Mahal Palace,' says the mayor, referring to a 2002 bout against Ray Mercer at the president's now-closed casino resort in Atlantic City. The fight, like 45 of his 47, ended in victory for Mr Klitschko, during a period of almost total dominance of the heavyweight division, alongside his brother, Vladimir.
'Trump was in the first row, I guess,' he says. 'And we have good discussion, good communication. I hope it's very soon I have a chance to talk personally to Trump and give him lots of arguments.'
In the June 8 barrage, a headquarters of the US defence giant Boeing was struck, along with a building used to process British visas until late last year. 'It is not possible to keep representatives from any country safe,' Mr Klitschko says.
Flags, drone parts and a traditional Ukrainian mace adorn the mayor's office. Asked for his favourite memento, Mr Klitschko walks behind his desk and pulls out a photograph of his son, Maxim, as a seven-year-old boy.
Then he shows a picture on his phone of himself standing by the side of a much taller man. This is Maxim at 7ft 5in , fully grown and, at the age of 20, a professional basketball player with AS Monaco. 'He makes us look small,' says Mr Klitschko with a smile. 'We hope he will join the NBA.'
In Ukraine, debate rages over whether to lower the age of conscription, from 25 to 18, amid growing shortages of manpower. Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, has resisted US pressure in favour of a reduction.
Cautiously, Mr Klitschko opens a gap between himself and the commander-in-chief. 'If you go to the street and see, from 10 workers, you see seven women and three men,' he says. 'And in other cities the number of men is much smaller.'
'The age of mobilisation is not our responsibility, it's a decision of government, but we have right now a huge deficit of human resources, and, if possible, pretty soon, the central government can make this decision.'
Does he think it would be right? Mr Klitschko says 'if we don't have another source' of men it may 'have to be', emphasising each word percussively.
For years, Mr Klitschko and Mr Zelensky have been at each other's throats. When he was a comedian, the president played a 'translator' to the mayor in one long-running skit, turning Mr Klitschko's incomprehensible blithering and raspberries – played by an actor – into full sentences.
The president appeared to recall the sketch when, in February, he responded to Mr Klitschko's suggestion that Ukraine might temporarily exchange the four regions occupied by Russia for peace. 'I know he's a great athlete,' Mr Zelensky said. 'But I didn't know he was a great speaker.'
In the president's eyes, Mr Klitschko has allowed corruption to flourish, doing little to stem the 'Kyiv system' of kickbacks, elite contractors and backroom deals.
The national anti-corruption bureau has recently arrested a string of the mayor's subordinates in city hall, with many cases focused on the sale of land permits.
To Mr Klitschko, the president is an authoritarian intent on edging him out of power as he fears a rival with international clout.
He accuses the president of undermining mayors from opposition parties and replacing them with allies under the guise of separate military administrations, such as that established in Kyiv.
In the last couple of years, he says, the prosecutor's office has 'opened 1,500 criminal cases' against his administration. 'Maybe you can take [from this], that the prosecutor's office, police is working pretty well.' But opening criminal cases is 'very, very easy. How many go to court? Just eight'.
The focus on corruption is because the 'whole media is in one hand' he claims and 'because a lot of politicians make a huge mistake... preparing for an election' after the war is over.
'Kyiv is one of the largest cities not just in Ukraine but also in Eastern Europe,' he says, adding that Mr Zelensky wants to 'control Kyiv [and] I'm not a member of the president's party'.
Critics in the president's office would reply that Mr Klitschko is himself not immune to political manoeuvring.
Ending the interview, the former boxer pokes his head back through the door to apologise for his English. 'I don't get much opportunity to practice any more,' says the one-time Los Angeles resident, now never dressed in anything but khaki.
Then he is gone, with battles to be fought on all fronts.
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