The Ukrainian boxing champion Usyk asks Trump to visit Ukraine and help its people.

The world heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk made an appeal to US President Donald Trump in an interview for CNN Sports, asking him to help Ukraine, which continues its struggle against the full-scale Russian invasion.

"(President) Donald Trump, please open (your) eyes, help my people," said Usyk - undoubtedly Ukraine's biggest sports star - to CNN.

The WBC, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion stated that he believes Trump should fulfill his campaign promise to end the war, after promising during the US presidential campaign to stop the conflict within 24 hours.

"He has to be accountable for the words he said," said Usyk. "He said that within a month or a day he will stop this war. He is not responsible for his words. Why is he speaking?"

Usyk also invited the US president to visit Kyiv, offering to host him in his home, so that he can better understand what ordinary Ukrainians are experiencing daily and nightly with the constant drone and missile strikes.

"I offer him my home. Let him come to Ukraine. I will give him my home and my guards. I will ensure his full safety," Usyk told CNN Sports. "Let him live in my home for a week and see how the missiles fly over him and how people live in Ukraine."

"Let him come and live for a week, not just for one day, but let him come secretly, so that no one knows he has arrived," added the heavyweight champion, explaining that if Moscow learns he is in the country, it will stop its attacks.

"And when he comes in secret, let him live somewhere in (the Kyiv districts of) Obolon or Troieshchyna, where houses, apartment buildings are being bombed... Then he will understand what is happening."

Born in Simferopol, Crimea, Usyk lived on the outskirts of Kyiv, but was outside the country in London, filming sequences for a video game, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. When Russian tanks approached Kyiv, he returned to his homeland, joining the Territorial Defense to defend the capital.

His family home in Vorzel was occupied and looted by Russian soldiers as they rampaged through the nearby suburbs of Khostomil, Irpin and Bucha, leaving mass graves and a trail of destruction.

Inspired by the pleas of wounded Ukrainian soldiers who called on him to "fight for the country," Usyk subsequently resumed his professional boxing career, but has visited the front line on several occasions, maintaining close contact with his fellow soldiers.

But even as he prepares for a match against Britain's Daniel Dubois on July 19, which could make him an undisputed heavyweight champion for a second time, Ukraine is very much at the forefront of his mind.

"It's a little difficult to balance things when my family is in Kyiv," he said, explaining that his wife and two daughters remain in the country. "But I just know that my Ukrainian people and my Ukrainian soldiers will protect them."

"It's hard, but I can focus to do my job, so I can help my country more later," he said. "I am fully focused on the fight, on my preparation."