Arnold Schwarzenegger sends support to Klitschkos as they join fight against Russia

"You were my heroes in the ring and you're my heroes now"

Arnold Schwarzenegger has sent a message of support to former heavyweight boxers, Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, as the brothers prepare to join the fight to defend Ukraine from invasion from Russia. Russia launched a full scale invasion by land, air and sea before dawn on Thursday after President Vladimir Putin announced a declaration of war. Vitali, who has been mayor of Kiev, Ukraine's capital, since 2014, confirmed he had no choice but to join the fight as Russian troops appear to close in on the city. His younger brother Wladimir had already enlisted as part of his homeland's reserve army earlier this month. Schwarzenegger, a friend of the pair, sent a supportive tweet to the brothers upon hearing that they will join the fight, describing them as "heroes". "Viatli and Wladimir @Klitschko, I am thinking of you, my friends," the former Governor of California tweeted. "You were my heroes in the ring and you're my heroes now." https://twitter.com/Schwarzenegger/status/1497064469658173442 Schwarzenegger had already expressed his support for the people of Ukraine in a statement posted to his Instagram. "My thoughts are with the Ukrainian people," he said. "I have been asked to do several interviews, but I believe the news should continue to focus on what's happening on the ground - on the tragedy that has broken our hearts and on the courage of the Ukrainian people that has inspired us." He added: "I am not a foreign policy expert, so I will leave the analysis to smarter people than me. I do know what it's like to grow up after a war, in an occupied country, and I know that in war and its aftermath, no one wins. Everyone suffers.

"War has a way of breaking the winners along with the losers. I have Ukrainian friends and fans and I have Russian friends and fans. As far as I can tell, none of them want this.

"I hope sanity will eventually prevail and end this unnecessary war before too many lives are broken."

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