By Sam Mcevoy For Mailonline

Published: 08:12 EDT, 2 March 2022 | Updated: 09:37 EDT, 2 March 2022

Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk has admitted that he doesn't know when he will defend his world heavyweight titles against Anthony Joshua after enlisting with the Kyiv Territorial Defence following Russia's invasion.

Usyk has been in talks with Joshua over a rematch after the Ukrainian stripped him of his IBF, WBA, WBO and IBO world heavyweight titles in a stunning display last year.

However, as a result of Russia's devastating invasion of his homeland last week, Usyk has return to Kyiv to take up arms and defend his country.

Following the sudden change in circumstances for Usyk, who was in Sheffield last week to promote an upcoming boxing game, he now doesn't know what his future holds in the sport. 

'I really don't know when I'm going to be stepping back in the ring,' Usyk told CNN. 'My country and my honor are more important to me than a championship belt.'

Following Vladimir Putin's assault on Ukraine, Usyk quickly faced accusations he had travelled to the UK to avoid the fighting, which he quickly refuted by flying to Warsaw, Poland (due to the Ukrainian airports being bombed by Russian missiles) before driving almost 500 miles back home and over the border to Kyiv.

Hours later, Usyk was pictured on his Instagram page toting a large machine gun before announcing that he has joined the Kyiv Territorial Defence in a heroic bid to protect his native Ukraine. 

Oleksandr Usyk (left) has admitted he doesn't know when he will fight Anthony Joshua again

It comes as a result of Usyk (centre right) enlisting with the Kyiv Territorial Defence following Russia's invasion of his homeland Ukraine, where he was seen holding a weapon

Usyk doesn't know when he will defend his four world heavyweight titles again as he insists: 'My country and my pride are more important to me than a belt'

'Dear Ukraine and dear Ukrainians, some wrote about me running away. Not true, I had a work trip and now I'm back. I'm home,' he said. 'Friends, we need to unite together and overcome this, because we are faced with exceptional difficulties. 

'I'm very overcome with emotions and I'm very concerned for my country and for our people. Friends we must stop this war and we must do it together.'

But now, after days back in Kyiv, Usyk revealed the battles he's currently facing.

As he hides out in a basement with his family, the 35-year-old has revealed that he's prepared to take a life if it comes to it. 

Heavyweight titan Usyk was in the UK at the start of the violence but returned to his homeland

'If they will want to take my life, or the lives of my close ones, I will have to do it,' he added in his interview with CNN. 'But I don't want that. I don't want to shoot, I don't want to kill anybody, but if they will be killing me, I will have no choice.' 

And Usyk isn't the only Ukrainian boxer taking up arms to defend his country. Both Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko have also joined the military to face up to the Russian forces, with the latter having served as the mayor of the country's capital Kyiv since 2014 and made an appeal for other nations to help stop the bloodshed.

Vasyl Lomachenko, a close friend of Usyk's and another Ukrainian elite boxer, has also taken to the frontlines.

Wladimir Klitschko, meanwhile, said 'every hour counts' in Ukraine's fight for sovereignty. 

Wladimir Klitschko (right) and brother Vitali (left) will defend their country on the frontlines

'I am Ukrainian, and I am a fighter,' he said. 'Our strongest force is the will and desire to live in a free country, and we have chosen the direction we want to go.

'We are a European country and we want to make sure that our values are going to be implemented rightly into our society, and no one else is going to decide for us how we should live.

'Kyiv has not been bombed since 1941, when the Nazis bombed and attacked Kyiv. It's so weird to actually hear explosions in the city day by day and shootings, and seeing all the images all around the country where people suffer.

'And in Kyiv, it's getting into a humanitarian, catastrophic event, and that's why every hour counts.'

Usyk addressed Putin in a video and urged him to negotiate with his homeland.

Part of the Karazin National University campus in the city of Kharkiv is destroyed after being struck by a Russian missile which was seemingly intended for a nearby police or interior ministry building

Firefighters battle to put out a blaze in Kharkiv as the city came under renewed airstrikes today, with an official saying there is almost no area of the city left that has not been hit

'Good morning to everybody. My name is Oleksandr Usyk. I'd like to speak to the people of Russia,' he said. 'If we consider ourselves as brothers, orthodox ones, do not let your children 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.'

WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury was quizzed about his contemporaries at a press conference ahead of his fight with Dillian Whyte.

Vasyl Lomachenko (left) is another boxer to have enlisted in the Ukrainian territorial army

He said: 'I would be the first one to join if England got involved, or America.

'I would be first in line for the job - my dad would as well, and all the boys. We would all sign up to defend our country. They are doing what they need to do.' 

Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia is trying to erase Ukraine and its people as Putin's invasion entered its seventh day today with renewed attacks on all fronts including an expected assault on the city which houses Europe's largest nuclear power plant.

Zelensky, who has become a symbol of Ukrainian defiance and courage since the war began, told his people today that Russians 'know nothing about our capital. About our history. But they have an order to erase our history. Erase our country. Erase us all'.

Tyson Fury has insisted he would be willing to defend the UK after Russia's invasion of Ukraine

The president, unshaven and wearing a military-style khaki T-shirt, said the West's response was not enough, calling for more international support, including backing Ukraine's bid to join the European Union. 'This is no time to be neutral,' he added.

As he spoke, troops were preparing barricades to defend the city of Zaporizhzhia - including setting up defences around the reactors of Energodar power plant. Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to Ukraine's interior ministry, called on generals to bypass the city while warning they could create a 'new Chernobyl' if the plant is damaged.

'Because of Putin's madness, Europe is again on the brink of a nuclear catastrophe,' he wrote on Facebook. 'The city where the largest nuclear power plant in Europe is located is preparing for a battle with the invaders. 

'An accident can happen like at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant or the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Russian generals - think again! Radiation does not know nationalities, does not spare anyone!'  

Putin's country was punished by the sporting world for declaring war on Ukraine last week by losing the Champions League final to Paris and the Sochi Grand Prix being axed by Formula One bosses altogether. 

Last weekend, in what is viewed as the best football league in the world, watched by millions globally, Premier League clubs acted.

West Ham players warmed up in supportive shirts for Ukrainian star Andriy Yarmolenko after he was granted compassionate leave while their opponents Wolves wore 'No To War' shirts in their match on Sunday. 

Liverpool and Chelsea players stood in solidarity with Ukraine moments before their Carabao Cup final kicked off at Wembley.

On Saturday, players from Manchester United and Watford held a banner of the peace symbol with the word written in numerous languages including Russian and Ukrainian.   

Crystal Palace displayed their support on the Selhurst Park big screen and Aston Villa's Matty Cash revealed a shirt in support of his Polish team-mate who plays for Dynamo Kyiv.

FIFA kicked Russia out of the World Cup and UEFA threw Spartak Moscow out of the Europa League earlier this week. 

Ukraine's military said Russia today renewed its assault 'on all fronts', with paratroopers landing in Kharkiv, tanks and trucks rolling into the centre of Kherson, and strikes in Mariupol and Zhytomyr

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd

Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group