Klitschko brothers, hall of fame boxers, vow to defend Ukraine, say Putin wants to ‘restore fallen empire’

Wladimir Klitschko, the former Ukrainian boxer who dominated the sport's heavyweight division alongside his brother and current Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko in the 2000s called for western democracies to unite in an effort to defend the country from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he accused of wanting to "restore a fallen empire whose demise he has never accepted."

In a LinkedIn blog post on Thursday, Klitschko accused Putin of wanting to destroy the Ukrainian way of life while saying the attacks against the Eastern European nation are the result of years of "weakness in Western democracies."

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Russian airstrikes rained down on Ukraine Thursday morning in the largest military operation on the continent since World War II as Moscow continues to defy international norms with a newfound confidence. Both Hall of Fame fighters have vowed to defend their homeland. 

Kiev's current mayor and former heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, right, his wife Natalia Klitschko, center, and his brother, former boxing heavyweight world champion Wladimir Klitschko vote at a polling station in an regional and local elections  in Ukraine in 2015. Both men have said they will defend Ukraine against Russian attacks. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

As both sides continue to battle each other, the former heavyweight champion wrote that Putin is seeking to restore Russia's dominance over most of the world. 

"Putin wants to call into question the geopolitical balance across the whole of Europe, he dreams of being the defender of the Slavic peoples wherever they live, and he wants to restore a fallen empire whose demise he has never accepted,"