Heavyweight boxing brothers Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko were mourning their father after the 64-year-old died after a long battle with cancer.
Former Soviet Air Force colonel Wladimir Klitschko had played a key role in a clean-up after the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in his native Ukraine in 1986.
It is thought the cancer was caused by his exposure to radiation in the aftermath.
Mr Klitschko had been suffering with cancer for a long time and spent his last days in hospital.
But Klitschko was able to watch his son Wladimir beat David Haye to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion from his hospital bed in Hamburg, Germany, on July 2.
Klitschko was then moved to Kiev where he died on Wednesday.
A statement from the family said: ‘After a long and severe illness died Wladimir Klitschko Rodionovich, father of boxing world champion Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko.
The brothers, Wladimir and Vitali, have postponed all their promotional work after learning of the news.
‘Both Wladimir and Vitali were devastated when they heard,’ the Germany-based brothers’ manager Bernd Boente said to the Times of India.
‘It had been clear for a long time that their father didn’t have much longer to live,’ Mr Boente said.
‘It was nice that their dad was able to follow the fight on television at the hospital,’ Mr Boente told the Times of India.
Both brothers, Wladimir and Vitali have returned to their native Ukraine to be with their mother for the funeral.
Wladimir Klitschko now holds the IBF, WBO and WBA belts. Alongside brother Vitali, the WBC champion, the brothers now hold all four of the major world titles.
Vitali junior is currently preparing to defend his WBC title against Tomasz Adamek in Poland this September.
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