As Russia's military invasion of Ukraine continued, a protest rally was held in Sapporo on the 6th, and Ukrainians living in Hokkaido complained about the plight of their hometown and called for cooperation in support.
The protest rally was held in front of JR Sapporo Station at the request of volunteers from Sapporo citizens, and more than 100 people participated.
Participants expressed their intention to protest Russia's military invasion by holding placards written in English and Russian, such as "NO WAR" and "PEACE for UK RAINE".
At the rally, a 47-year-old Ukrainian man living in Eniwa City made a speech saying, "I think that humanitarian assistance can be provided from Japan. I think that refugees will be accepted from now on, so please help me as much as possible." rice field.
After the rally, Govorovsky Okawa, a first-year high school student in Eniwa, who has a Ukrainian father and a Japanese mother, said, "I don't think fighting is the first step towards peace. I want Ukraine to be a place where people can return. "
Ukrainian Veronica Krakowa, who attended the rally in Sapporo, is from Zaporizhia, Europe's largest nuclear power plant, attacked and seized by Russian troops, and her mother remains in her hometown. The father, who is a truck driver abroad, has returned to Ukraine to join the government forces.
Veronica says, "I have to contact my family and friends in Ukraine many times every day to see if they are safe. Many people want to escape from the town by attacking a nuclear power plant, but by train. It seems to be in trouble because the number of trains is small. If there is something wrong with the nuclear power plant, I feel uneasy and angry because I can not return to the town like the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. I want you to be careful and live. "