A defiant Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, told CGTN Europe that male residents are returning to defend the Ukrainian capital. The 50-year-old blasted "Russian propaganda and lies" and insisted that Ukraine has "always been a peaceful country and we are peaceful people."

He said: "We never were aggressive to anyone. My blood is Russian as well, because my mother was Russian. We have nothing against the Russians, but we have a lot against Russian aggressive politics. All 40 million citizens of our country have one wish - bring peace back to our home country."

The former heavyweight boxing world champion also said a peace deal would only be possible if Russia removes all troops from Ukraine while maintaining his city had enough electricity, food, and water for its citizens to survive.

He told CGTN Europe's Global Business program: "We see people who have already moved back to Kyiv, the majority of them men…some men are coming back to our hometown ready to defend homes, families, children and defend the future for our city and our home country."

Along with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Klitschko has been one of the public faces of Ukrainian resistance to the Russian military actions.

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Asked by CGTN's Jamie Owen what compromises Ukraine would be prepared to make to secure peace, the Kyiv mayor insisted concessions from Russia were required first.

He said: "I'm not too involved in the negotiation process, but for me personally…Russian soldiers are right now killing civilians. It's difficult to say which compromise we have to find. We can find a compromise if Russian soldiers go away from our country."

Klitschko said shelling was still being heard around Kyiv, despite Russia's promise to scale down military operations near the city.

He added: "We are happy to hear the Russian forces are going away from the Kyiv region, but yesterday evening we heard a huge explosion… in the [river] port of Kyiv, which means the battle is still happening."

Klitschko said life remained difficult for those in the Kyiv region. "Thank God we have electricity and food and water to drink, but everybody is nervous because we listen to sirens every day. Everyone has to go to the bunkers and some people have spent weeks underground to save their lives."

Klitschko's brother Wladimir, another former heavyweight boxing world champion, has also featured widely, having joined the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces in Kyiv a few weeks before the conflict began.