The bitter feud between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the powerful mayor of his country’s capital, Vitali Klitschko, has been no secret.
Klitschko, a former heavyweight boxer, has in the past publicly accused the president of Ukraine of having autocratic tendencies, even saying in 2023 Zelensky was pushing Ukraine to become “no different from Russia, where everything depends on the whim of one man”.
Some believe Klitschko, who leads the opposition political party UDAR (which means "punch" in Ukrainian), harbours presidential ambitions himself.
Now, in a recent interview, Klitschko has stepped into the political ring once again with another apparent act of public defiance. He told the BBC on Friday that Ukraine may have to consider ceding territory to Russia, and that President Zelensky might be forced to accept a “painful solution” to achieve peace.
Zelensky has firmly opposed any territorial concessions, insisting on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity — even if that stance has fuelled a separate, extraordinary standoff with US President Donald Trump.
This is why the latest bout with Klitschko comes at a particularly sensitive and bad time.
Mr Trump has once again lashed out at Zelensky, accusing him this week of scuttling peace negotiations because he refuses to recognise Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea — despite the fact that such a move is constitutionally impossible for a Ukrainian president to back.
The pressure is on: the US president has also claimed a deal could happen “in a matter of days.”
On Friday, Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, landed in Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin — as news broke that a senior Russian general - Yaroslav Moskalik - was killed in a car bomb just outside the Russian capital.
Any sign of division within Ukrainian ranks — or even the perception that Zelensky could be pressured from within — could tip the balance in Putin’s favour at a critical moment.
That is no doubt why Serhiy Leshchenko, an advisor to Zelensky, has already hit back at Klitschko, calling the mayor’s comments “counterproductive”, given that no formal peace deal has been outlined.
He said that such remarks violate the Ukrainian constitution, which enshrines the country’s territorial integrity.
The feud between Zelensky and Klitschko runs deeper than most realise. A documentary about the former sports star that was released last year traces the rivalry back to Zelensky’s days in television, when he allegedly parodied Klitschko — who became mayor in 2014.
It is also part of a long-running struggle between central and local government, with some analysts calling the internal divide “Ukraine’s other battle.”
Before the war, Zelensky’s party, Servant of the People, underperformed in local elections, failing to win a single major mayoral race. Most of the positions went to powerful opposition politicians like Klitschko.
That dynamic changed after the invasion, when, under martial law, the government appointed regional military administrations — often led by individuals aligned with Zelensky’s party. Kyiv was no exception.
The president's office created the city’s military administration, and although Klitschko remained in post as mayor, the role was effectively split when General Mykola Zhernov was appointed to run a parallel office.
Since then, relations have gone from strained to worse — particularly as tensions have flared over a possible ceasefire since Mr Trump returned to office in January.
Back then Klitschko — who has built a strong political base in Kyiv — posted a statement on Telegram accusing Zelensky’s inner circle of “political intrigues” and abusing martial law.
The next few days and weeks will be critical as the terms of a ceasefire — or a pause in fighting — are hammered out. Now more than ever, Zelensky will need to present a united front.
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