Kyiv mayor proud of citizens’ spirit, anxious about future

By FRANCESCA EBEL
Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — As Russian troops draw closer to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv’s mayor is filled with pride over his citizens’ spirit and anxious about how long they can hold out. In an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, after a grueling night of Russian attacks on the outskirts of the city, Mayor Vitali Klitschko was silent for several seconds when asked if there were plans to evacuate civilians. He says “we can’t do that, because all ways are blocked.”  He later backed away from that assessment. The AP was not able to immediately verify the mayor’s report that Kyiv was surrounded, and his spokesperson later tweeted that the mayor had misspoken.