Giving a more factual picture of the Ukraine War, 50-year-old Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko admitted that Kiev was encircled, realizing there’s no where to escape for anyone wishing to leave the city. U.S. and European press reports all say how frustrated Russian President Vladimir Putin is with the Ukraine campaign, not conquering a 44 million country the size of Texas in 24 hours. Media reports, especially bomb-damage-assessment [BDA] and casualties, a completely distorted, unreliable, leaving the impression that Ukraine is whipping the enemy. Ukrainian press reports are as reliable as Baghdad Bob, Saddam’s Hussein’s spokesman, telling the public that the U.S. was getting routed in Iraq.. Everyone knows what happened. Klitscho’s assessments gives a sober picture of what’s really happening. “We can’t do that, because all ways are blocked,” Klitschko told the AP.
Klitschko admitted that supplies in Kiev, a city of 2.8 million, were running thin because all supply chains have been interrupted by Russian forces. Asked by the AP whether there were plans to evacuate civilians, Klitscho admitted it was impossible. Klitscho, who led the Feb. 22, 2014 CIA-backed coup that toppled the Kremlin-backed President Viktor Yanukovych, knows he’s a marked man, a prime target, like 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky, for Russian forces. No one’s more defiant and fighting for democracy than Klitscho, whose six-foot-seven-inch frame fights for Ukraine with every cell in his body. Klitschko ordered a curfew from dusk-till-8 AM. “We are hunting these people, and it will be much easier if nobody is on the street,” saying Russian sabateurs lurk in Kiev’s streets. Klitschko complained about a depressed mood knowing that there’s no escape.
All the jubilation by Ukraine’s forces portrayed by the press was undermined by Klitschko’s sober admission of what’s happening in Kiev. “I just talked with the president [Volodymyr Zelensky]. Everybody is not feeling so well,” Klitschko admitted. “We show our character, our knowledge, our values,” Klitschko said. Kiev has witnessed long lines waiting to pick up weapons with which to arm a civilian militia. Without proper weapons training and enough ammunition, it’s largely symbolic in terms to defending the country. “To be honest, we don’t have 100% control,” Klitschko said. “We built this territorial defense in a short amount of time—but these are patriotic people,” Klitschko said. When you listen to President Joe Biden, you’d think Putin is stymied and losing the fight. But Klitschko, unlike the fake media, gives a true assessment of the situation.
Klitschko give a sober view of Kiev’s capital, sealed off from the rest of the country and waiting for the Russian onslaught unless there’s a wholesale surrender. Judging by Zelensky’s tough talk, he wants Ukraine’s 2.8 million to fight to the death. That’s not responsible leadership: That’s group suicide. “We are at the border of a humanitarian catastrophe,” Klitschko said. “Right now, we have electricity, right now we have water and heating in our houses. But the infrastructure is destroyed to deliver food and medication,” attesting to the desperate state of affairs. Unless the U.S. and NATO intervene quickly to protect Kiev’s citizens, there could be an unnecessary massacre. If Kiev gets no rescue from the U.S. or NATO, Zelensky and Klitschko should not expect ordinary citizens to sacrifice themselves for the patriotic cause. If all is lost, Ukraine’s citizens have a right to survive.
Kiev’s Daily newspaper reports a Russian rout with thousands of soldiers killed, hundreds of tanks, helicopter, armored personnel carriers and fixed wing aircraft destroyed with the enemy in retreat. Sound like Baghdad Bob, giving the rosy picture of what’s happening on the ground. Klitschko gives the true picture of Kiev’s 2.8 million population hemmed in without an escape rout with the Russian military bearing down on the city. Before there’s a civilian catastrophe, it’s time for Zelensky and Klitschko to stop handing out American-made Colt M16 rifles to teenagers or senior citizens and telling them to fight to the death. If Kiev falls, Zelensky and Klitschko need to consider what can be done to minimize civilian casualties, not give a suicide script to ordinary people. All the bravado and false hope are no substitute for a realistic survival plan if Kiev falls to the Russian Federation.
Zelensky needs to consult with U.S. and NATO for a Plan B in the event that Kiev falls to the Russian Federation. Minimizing civilian casualties should be the top priority, not whether certain patriotic zealots want to die for the cause. “That’s why the message for everyone is: Support Ukraine together . . . We are strong,” Klitschko said. “Every Ukrainian is proud to be independent, proud to be Ukrainian, and we are proud to have our own country,” Klitschko said, giving a suicide script to ordinary citizens if Putin’s forces takes over Kiev. Good leadership knows when to throw in the towel and live to fight another day. If Russia takes over Kiev, only Zelensky, Klitschko and other government officials need to worry about extinction. Moscow won’t hold it against ordinary citizens while they set up a puppet government. When the next rebellion eventually occurs, ordinary citizens need to survive.
