Vitali Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv: We're fighting to survive
The Interview
BBC
4.3 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 30 January 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
‘We're fighting to survive in our home town, in our country, and at the same time we're fighting for our future, for our independence’
Nick Robinson speaks to Vitali Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv, about Ukraine’s war with Russia as it approaches its fourth year.
Born behind the Iron Curtain in 1971, he’s arguably best-known as a former heavyweight boxing world champion who made his name in the ring during the 1990s and 2000s.
Having hung up his gloves following a series of injuries, when his native Ukraine endured political upheaval through the Orange Revolution, Vitali’s attentions turned to the political arena. Following a short stint in the Ukrainian Parliament, where he aligned with pro-Europeans, Vitali was elected mayor of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv in 2014 after heavily campaigning against corruption.
But his greatest challenge in politics, and indeed even greater than becoming a world champion boxer, came when Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Thank you to the Political Thinking with Nick Robinson team for their help in making this programme. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Artificial Intelligence pioneer Mustafa Suleyman, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, and fantasy author Sir Philip Pullman. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.
Presenter: Nick Robinson Producers: Daniel Kraemer and Ben Cooper Editor: Justine Lang
Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Vitali Klitschko Credit: Sergei GAPON / AFP via Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.1 | Hello, I'm BBC presenter Nick Robinson, and this is the interview from the BBC World Service, |
| 0:11.8 | the best conversations coming out of the BBC, people shaping our world from all over the world. |
| 0:18.9 | If you're not a little bit afraid, then you're not paying attention. |
| 0:23.6 | You have never seen a people so united. |
| 0:27.2 | Do not make that boat crossing. Do not make that journey. |
| 0:29.9 | Being born in America, feeling American, having people treat me like I'm not. |
| 0:34.0 | We're more popular than populism. |
| 0:37.3 | For this interview, I meet the mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, via video link from his office. |
| 0:43.3 | Born behind the Iron Curtain in 1971, he's arguably best known as a former heavyweight |
| 0:48.9 | boxing world champion, as well as the older brother, a fellow heavyweight boxing world champ, Vladimir. |
| 0:55.8 | After making his name in the ring during the 1990s and 2000s, |
| 1:00.1 | Vitale hung up his gloves following a series of injuries. |
| 1:03.7 | When his native Ukraine endured political upheaval through the Orange Revolution, |
| 1:08.1 | when hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest against |
| 1:11.5 | Russian electoral interference, Vitali's attentions turned to the political arena. |
| 1:17.4 | Following a short stint in the Ukrainian Parliament, where he aligned with pro-Europeans, |
| 1:22.6 | Vitali was elected mayor of Ukraine's capital Kyiv in 2014, after heavily campaigning against corruption. |
| 1:30.2 | But his greatest challenge in politics, and indeed even greater than becoming a world champion boxer, |
| 1:36.3 | came when Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 22. |
| 1:43.0 | The main goal of Putin is not Donetsk, Lugask, or Krim. The main goal of Putin, it's not Donetsk, Lugask or Krim. |
| 1:47.9 | The main goal and main target heart of this country, the capital of Ukraine. |
... |
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