A thousand times, thank you - Mayor of Kyiv grateful to UK for training Ukrainian troops

The Mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, has told Forces News he will be "never tired to tell a thousand times, thank you" to the UK for supporting the training of Ukrainian troops.

Speaking to Forces News' Simon Newton in the Ukrainian capital, Mr Klitschko spoke about what lies ahead for Kyiv – which over the weekend was targeted by Russia's largest drone attack to date.

Former boxer Mr Klitschko said: "Great Britain makes huge support delivering defensive weapons, anti-missile systems, training for our soldiers, and that's why I will be never tired to tell a thousand times, thank you."

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More than 30,000 Ukrainian recruits have been trained on British soil in what is the largest military training programme of its kind in the UK since the Second World War.

UK-led Operation Interflex was launched in June 2022 to train thousands of Ukrainian recruits preparing to fight against invading Russian forces.

'We have to fight'

For Mr Klitschko, the war is a fight for national survival.

"We have to fight, ready or not. Nobody wants to fight, nobody wants to die, but we don't have so many choices, we have to fight," he explained.

Last year missile strikes left parts of Kyiv without water, electricity or heating.

This year Ukraine expects Russia to repeat that tactic as Kyiv prepares for a second winter at war.

Forces News will have the full sit-down interview with Mr Klitschko as well as much more from Ukraine this week.