Oleksandr Usyk has issued an invitation to Donald Trump, urging the US president to spend a week at his home in Ukraine to gain an insight into the ongoing conflict.
Trump had previously asserted he could resolve the war “in 24 hours” upon assuming office. However, more than three years after Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion, a resolution remains elusive.
Usyk, a former undisputed world champion in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions, conveyed a grim depiction of life in Ukraine, emphasising the necessity for Trump to develop a more profound understanding of the situation.
“I advise American president Donald Trump to go to Ukraine and live in my house for one week, only one week,” Usyk, the WBC, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion, told the BBC.
“Watch what is going on. Every night there are bombs, rockets flying above my house.
“People who don’t live in Ukraine, who don’t support Ukraine, who haven’t watched what’s going on, don’t understand what’s going on.”
Usyk, who has won all 23 of his professional contests, is currently in a training camp to prepare for a rematch with IBF champion Daniel Dubois on 19 July at Wembley Stadium.
“I worry about what happens in my country,” 38-year-old Usyk added.
“It’s very bad because Ukrainian people have died. It’s not just military people – children, women, grandmothers and grandfathers, too.”
Russian forces launched two devastating attacks on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, on Saturday.
President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Vladimir Putin of “pure terrorism” following the strikes, which allegedly targeted civilians.
The initial overnight missile and drone strikes, described by Kharkiv’s mayor Ihor Terekhov as the “most powerful attack” of the war so far, resulted in at least three deaths and 21 injuries, including a six-week-old baby and a 14-year-old girl.
Kharkiv was struck again later on Saturday afternoon with guided aerial bombs, killing at least one person and wounding more than 40 others.
Zelensky condemned the attacks, saying: “This is another savage killing. Aerial bombs were dropped on civilians in the city – there is even a children’s railway nearby… This makes no military sense.
“This is pure terrorism. This cannot be turned a blind eye to. And this is not some kind of game. Every day, we lose our people only because Russia feels it can act with impunity. Russia must be firmly forced into peace.”
