Kyiv’s mayor said in an interview Sunday that Ukraine’s capital was fully “encircled” by Russian troops with no way out — only to try to backtrack hours later by claiming he was the victim of Russian “lies.”
Mayor Vitali Klitschko, a former heavyweight boxing champ, had told The Associated Press in a recorded interview that it was now impossible to evacuate the city “because all ways are blocked.
“Right now, we are encircled,” he told the wire service of those remaining in the city of 2.8 million, many of whom have been forced to hide in bunker-like subway stations amid ongoing shelling.
“We are at the border of a humanitarian catastrophe,” he said of dwindling stocks of food and medicine.
Then hours later, Klitschko took to Facebook and Telegram to claim reports of the city being surrounded and inescapable were the work of “Russian Internet editions” spreading misinformation.
“Don’t believe the lies! Trust information only from official sources,” he claimed.
His rep told the Kyiv Independent that Klitschko misspoke while dismissing the idea that Kyiv was “encircled” as “a lie and a manipulation.”
The AP stood by the interview, which a source told The Post had been recorded. The agency said it had not been able to verify just how boxed in the city currently was by Russian forces.
Klitschko, 50, also had said at least nine civilians had been killed in Kyiv so far, including a child.
“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,” he warned of the dire situation.
Klitschko said the curfew he ordered is to extend until at least 8 a.m. Monday — and was enforced largely to weed out saboteurs fighting on behalf of Russia.
“We are hunting these people, and it will be much easier if nobody is on the street,” Klitschko explained, claiming that six such “saboteurs” were killed Saturday night.
He conceded there is a risk that those enemies could be hiding among the long lines of people waiting to pick up weapons being handed out to help defend the nation.
“To be honest, we don’t have 100 percent control,” Klitschko admitted.
“We built this territorial defense in a short amount of time.
“Right now, the most important question is to defend our country,” he added.
The former pro fighter insisted that his nation has remained “strong.”
“Every Ukrainian is proud to be independent, proud to be Ukrainian, and we are proud to have our own country,” he insisted of their refusal to give in despite being dwarfed by Russian forces.
With Post Wires
