A captured Russian soldier has admitted he was "100 per cent wrong" about Putin's invasion after seeing his favourite boxers take up arms against him.
The prisoner of war said he started questioning the Kremlin's orders when he saw World Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk and former champ Vasyl Lomachenko enlist to defend Ukraine from invading Russian troops.
In a video released by Ukrainian officials, the remorseful soldier explained how state media painted Ukraine as a country in need of rescuing from the grip of nationalists and "Nazis".
He said: "Literally I'm 100% wrong now. Don't judge too harshly. We were told Ukraine is dominated by fascists... Nazis had seized power. We did not know the situation for sure.
"When we entered this territory I watched the address of your boxers (Olexander Usyk and Vasily Lomachenko). Back home I always loved watching them.
"They said 'we didn't call you here'. I feel shame that we came to this country."
Current World Heavyweight Champion Usyk should be training for the clash of his career against Anthony Joshua, but is holed up in a Kyiv bomb shelter after signing up for the under-siege city's defence unit.
Speaking from the bunker on Wednesday, he told CNN “What do you mean why?
“It is my duty to fight, to defend my home, my family.”
Vowing that he will kill if pushed to do so, he added: "If they will want to take my life, or the lives of my close ones, I will have to do it.
"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."
Usyk is not the only boxer to put his career on hold to fight Putin's army.
Several others have done the same, including three-division champion Vasyl Lomachenko, who has been pictured shouldering an M16 assault rifle after signing up to defend his home. .
The 34-year-old shared an image of himself carrying a weapon and wearing camouflage army fatigues on social media.
Captioning the image, he said: "The Bilgorod-Dnistrovsky Battalion of Territorial Defense is formed and armed."
The two former boxing world champions Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko also answered Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky 's call to arms and are now stationed in Kyiv, reports say.
As Putin's war machine rumbles on, terrified Ukrainians remain under siege and have been pictured running for their lives to avoid major shelling as Russian forces surround two cities.
Horrifying images from Irpin, just 16 miles from capital Kyiv, show people cowering under cover as missiles rain down around them.
Soldiers and residents refusing to leave their homes can be seen helping elderly citizens to a bus as they attempt to flee the horror.
All around them are the bodies of those who did not make it to safety, as they were fired upon as they attempted to leave.
One heartbreaking image shows the bodies of a family, killed as they attempted to leave, surrounded by suitcases containing their possessions.
A resident has covered them with a blanket, but they remain a symbol of the innocents slaughtered by Putin’s illegal invasion.
The sad images confirm Russians are shelling civilian populations, despite assurances they would be off limits from weapon
