Vitali Klitschko is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer who serves as mayor of Kyiv and head of the Kyiv City State Administration was born on July 19, 1971. He served as a leader of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc and was a former member of the Ukrainian Parliament.
Klitschko bagged multiple world heavyweight championships in his Boxing career. Vitali and his younger brother Wladimir Klitschko have been included in the Guinness World Records as the brothers with the most world heavyweight title fight victories. From 2006 to 2015, Vitali and Wladimir (also a multiple world champion) ruled heavyweight boxing, a period known as the “Klitschko Era” of the division.
Also read: War in Ukraine disrupts key supply chains – and lives
Vitali, who retired from boxing in 2013, has been the mayor of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital city, since 2014. Wladimir enrolled in Ukraine’s territorial army a month before the invasion when 100,000 Russian troops gathered on the country’s border. He is then joined by current pound-for-pound stars Oleksandr Usyk and Vasyl Lomachenko.
Klitschko confirmed in 2014 said that he would take part in the Ukrainian Presidential election. Later he announced that he changed his mind and would run for the Mayor of Kyiv in the 2014 Kyiv local election. Klitschko won Kyiv’s mayoral elections with almost 57% of the votes.
Both Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko brothers have also been involved in charitable activities aimed at helping schools, churches, and children. The Klitschko brothers announced in 2002 that they had agreed to work for UNESCO. Vitali and his brother never fought in a professional fight because their mother made them promise not to.
Also read: Russian journalist feared missing after protesting Ukraine invasion on TV
In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, Klitschko and his brother pledged to take up arms to protect Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.