Boxing Détente: Vitali Klitschko Running For Mayor of Kiev, Backs Billionaire Candy Maker Petro Poroshenko For President
By Robert Brizel, Head RCM Boxing Correspondent
Former World Heavyweight champion Dr. Vitali Klitschko has declared his candidacy for mayor of the strategic city of Kiev in upcoming elections, while backing billionaire candy maker Petro Poroshenko for President of the Ukraine in the upcoming May 25 elections.
The strategic maneuver by Vitali effectively ruins the chances of former Prime Minister YuliaTymoshenko from regaining office. Poroshenko leads polls for president with 36% to Tymoshenko’s 12%. Vitali will swing his 13% support for president to Poroshenko, in effect deciding the presidential race for his favored candidate.
Russian nationalists continue protests in Eastern Ukraine. Russian troops are massing in large numbers on the border of Russia and Eastern Ukraine, as diplomatic overtures between Russian President Vladimir Putin and United States President Barack Obama continue. Between 40 and 100 thousand Russian troops on alert are positioned in and around the Russian cities of Rostov, Kursk, and Belgorod, supported by air recognizance.
Russia’s Defense Ministry stated it is only carrying out snap military exercises in its southern and western districts, and has no intention of any military action in the Ukraine. The drills run until the end of March.
General Phillip Breedlove, head of United States European Command and NATO military chief, remained concerned Russian troops could roll into Odessa in southwest Ukraine, or Moldova’s Transnistria separatist region on the opposite side of the Ukraine. Transnistria has remained an unrecognized independent country since 1992, where after war it is governed as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, a state with limited worldwide recognition. A Russian military contingent remains present in Transnistria.
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