Wladimir Klitschko, the brother of Kyiv's mayor and a former two-time heavyweight world champion boxer, characterized Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine to Newsmax on Monday as "a pure genocide."
He also lashed out at Fox News' Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens and other Americans who have vocally opposed offering military aid to Ukraine. This, in an appearance on "Eric Bolling The Balance."
"Conservatives who typically, I don’t know why they’re not supporting you and Ukraine, but they’re not," Bolling said, though he noted most Americans seem to be with Ukraine. "What do you say to those people?"
Klitschko responded by saying anyone not standing with Ukraine's resolute people in this conflict with Russia are, by default, standing in opposition to them. "If you passively observe what is going on, and we do share the same principles of freedom and democratic principles, like the United States, like the Western world, so to speak," the former fighter said. "If you are passively observing, you are part of this invasion, blood is on your hands, too."
To this guest, the war has been particularly rough for nonsoldiers.
"This senseless war has been taking thousands of lives of the civilians," Klitschko said
"It's just a genocide of the Ukrainian population. According to Russian propaganda and statements, Ukraine was just the mistake of the history. So ... this is a pure genocide, what is happening in Ukraine."
Klitschko condemned Russia's bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol, allegedly ordered by Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev, which left a pregnant woman and her baby dead.
"The message is clear. This is a war crime what Russian army, what the Russian government, and the Russian President Putin is doing in Ukraine," Klitschko stated. "This is mass murder."
The mayor's brother said he was unsure what Russia's plans were but attributed it at least partially to "imperialism" and Russian President Putin's "mad dream" of building an empire.
"This is something that should not happen in 2022. Russian military forces need to leave the country now. All the destruction, all of the killings, must be recorded and later on, at The Hague court, considered as a war crime."
"This 'special operation' is a special operation targeted civilian population," he continued.
Klitschko pointed out that the "denazification" justification offered by the Kremlin as a pretext for their invasion is a baseless smear.
"We have a president with Jewish roots. I'm a member of Holocaust memorial Babi Yar, where a couple of days ago Russian rockets landed and killed in the exact place where 1941, 100,000 civilians were shot by the German Nazis," the former boxing champion said.
"Whatever Russia tries to justify this 'special operation,' so to speak, is complete B.S. and a lie," Klitschko added.
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