While the military invasion of Ukraine by Russia caused many casualties to civilians, the largest demonstration march after the invasion was held in Tokyo by Ukrainians living in Japan and others calling for support.
People of various nationalities and ages, including Ukrainians living in Japan, who responded to the call on SNS participated in the demonstration procession held in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, and about 2000 people, the largest after the military invasion, gathered. ..
Participants wore blue and yellow clothes in the image of the Ukrainian flag, raised a piece of paper with the words "NO WAR", and raised a spreich call to call for support.
A Ukrainian woman who participated in the demonstration said, "Every morning, I get a message from my local family that it's okay, which means" the night is over and I'm alive. " I can't put it into words. I want you to stop the war and do what Japan can do. "
Also, a 16-year-old man whose mother is Ukrainian and whose father is Japanese said, "I am worried every day because I have a family living in the area, but I was disappointed that I could not do anything and participated in the demonstration. I hope we can get the feeling that we want the war to end. "
Kovalyov Yuri, a member of the hosting organization and from Kyiv, said, "There are some isolated areas and there are shortages of food and medicine. I want to go. "
From Kharkov "My parents' house is not a damaged word"
Roman from Kharkov, Ukraine's second largest city, was heavily attacked by Russian troops and participated in a march to appeal for the end of the war.
Kharkov's parents' house, where his parents live, was damaged a few days ago, and he was unable to contact his father for four days, but on the fifth day, he was finally able to contact him via SNS.
From the photo of my parents' house that was sent from my local sister, I could see that the wall was severely damaged by the bomb.
Mr. Roman commented on the current situation, "I couldn't say it when I saw the picture of my family's damage. Kharkov had a power outage every day for a few days. The temperature was about minus 2 degrees Celsius. If my house breaks, I can't live in it. Because of the power outage, my cell phone isn't fully charged and it's hard to get in touch with my family as I expected. "
He added, "My sister in Kharkov is also evacuating abroad by car with her two elementary school children because the airstrikes will continue. If she can evacuate, I would like to call her to Japan."
Russian participants are also "embarrassed as Russians"
Russians were also seen during the march.
Sergei Straschko, who works for an IT company, says his wife has been Ukrainian for 20 years.
Mr. Straschko said, "I'm embarrassed as a Russian. If I can't solve it by diplomacy, I should change Putin. Before I say Ukrainians, Russians, or Japanese, they are all the same people. I participated in. "