Ukrainian boxing icon Vasyl Lomachenko has armed himself with an M16 assault rifle to help defend his country from the Russian invasion.
Media outlets including Hromadske and Ukrinform have both reported the three-division champion has joined the Belgorod-Dniester Terror Defence Battalion - the Territorial Defence of his hometown.
The 34-year-old has been pictured carrying a weapon and wearing camouflage army fatigues along with a message on his Facebook page which reads, "The Bilgorod-Dnistrovsky Battalion of Territorial Defense is formed and armed."
Once one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world, Lomachenko is believed to be joining the resistance near the Odesa region in the south of Ukraine.
He took to Instagram just two days ago to call for prayers for ‘the peace of the whole world’.
Remarkably, Lomachenko is the latest in a long line of boxers to take up arms to defend Ukraine following Russia ’s invasion, which began last Thursday.
Heavyweight legend Vitali Klitschko is the current Mayor of Kyiv, and he revealed he will serve Ukraine in war.
The 50-year-old’s younger brother Wladimir has also signed up as reserve for the territorial forces to defend the city of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. The Klitschko brothers have both called on the world to help and support Ukraine during the ongoing conflict.
In a clip shared on social media, Wladimir declares: “I’m calling to all international partners to observe this strategy that is happening nowadays in Ukraine and this senseless war which is not going to have any winners, but losers.
“I just want to tell you we must stay united against this Russian aggression. Don't let it continue happening in Ukraine, don't let it happen in Europe and eventually in the world. United we are strong. Support Ukraine. Thank you.”
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Meanwhile, heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk - a close friend of Lomachenko - also sent a message to both the Russian people and their president, Vladimir Putin, to stop the war.
“I’d like to speak to the people of Russia,” Usyk said. “If we consider ourselves as brothers, orthodox ones. Do not let your children to set out to our country, do not fight with us.
“Also I’m addressing this to the President Vladimir Putin. You can stop this war. Please just sit down and negotiate it with us without claims. Our kids, wives, grannies are hiding in the basements…
“We are here in our own country, we cannot do it other way – we are defending… Stop it! Stop this war.”
