‘Death come upon us’: Ukraine’s champion boxing brothers join Kyiv street fight

Ukraine’s heavyweight boxing brothers “Dr Ironfist” and “Dr Steelhammer” joined the brutal street fight against Russia through the neighbourhoods of Kyiv.

Dr Ironfist and Dr Steelhammer, Ukraine’s legendary heavyweight boxing brothers, have joined the brutal street fight raging in the streets of Kyiv.

Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv and former heavyweight boxing champion, vowed to join his brother, Wladimir Klitschko, in repelling Russian forces from the centre of the capital city.

Martial law has been declared in Kyiv, where Klitschko, 50, has been mayor since 2014. His younger brother Wladimir, 45, joined the reserve army earlier this month.

The Hall of Fame boxing champions were known for their heavy-hitting, being nicknamed Dr Ironfist and Dr Steelhammer respectively. Wladimir was also known for his relationship with the diminutive American actor Hayden Panettiere.

Vitali Klitschko poses with brother Wladimir after winning a heavyweight boxing championship fight in 2010. Picture: AFP.

As head of the Kyiv City State Administration, the older Klitschko has been in the middle of the Ukraine response to the invading forces of wannabe “emperor” Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine’s air defence systems repelled two “deadly gifts” that Russia fired into a civilian neighbourhood.

Klitschko updated the latest casualties from the “missile debris” on Twitter, saying three people were injured, one in critical condition, when a rocket fragmentation struck a residential building on Košice Street.

Boxer Wladimir Klitschko pictured with and actor Hayden Panettiere in 2007. Wladimir is defending Kyiv from Russian invaders. Picture: Getty Images.

“He’s totally losing his reality,” Klitschko said of Putin during an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain. “Looking wanting to be an empire”.

He said he has no choice but to answer the call for the people of Kyiv to take up arms against the Russian invaders.

“It’s already a bloody war,” he said. “I don’t have another choice. I have to do that. I would fight.”

⚡️ За попередніми даними, троє поранених, один з них у важкому стані, внаслідок потрапляння уламків ракети у житловий будинок на вулиці Кошиця, 7-А.
Швидкі везуть людей у лікарні.
На місці працюють всі аварійно-рятувальні служби.
Будинок палає, є загроза руйнування. pic.twitter.com/Cu0Wn4Tp6J

— Віталій Кличко (@Vitaliy_Klychko) February 25, 2022

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry pleaded with locals to make Molotov cocktails and fight the Russians in the streets of Ukraine.

“We ask citizens to inform about the movement of equipment. Make Molotov cocktails, neutralise the occupier,” a tweet from Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said.

Wladimir Klitschko said from Kyiv as Russian forces raced toward the city that Putin was invading the country from “all sides”.

Former WBC heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko during his campaign for mayor in 2014. Picture: AP.

“It is not “the war of Ukraine”, it is Putin’s war. Meticulous preparations were hidden behind the fog of the last few weeks in order to set in motion a plan that had been drawn up for months. No more fog and false diplomatic declarations,” he wrote on LinkedIn.”

“Now, the Russian president is using war rhetoric in the purest Bolshevik tradition and is rewriting history to justify his redivision of borders.

“He makes it clear that he wants to destroy the Ukrainian state and the sovereignty of its people. Words are followed by missiles and tanks. Destruction and death come upon us. That’s it, blood will mix with tears”.

Originally published as ‘Death come upon us’: Ukraine’s champion boxing brothers join Kyiv street fight