Govt asks Ukrainian Embassy not to seek military volunteers

Jiji Press

16:15 JST, March 3, 2022

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The government wants the Ukrainian Embassy in Tokyo to refrain from recruiting Japanese nationals as military volunteers to fight against the Russian military.

The government has explained to the embassy that “an evacuation advisory has been issued” for Japanese nationals across Ukraine, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Wednesday.

“We don’t want people [in Japan] to travel to Ukraine for any purpose,” Matsuno told a news conference.

Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi made similar remarks Tuesday.

The Ukrainian Embassy has said in a Twitter post in Japanese that it is recruiting people with professional training experience including at the Self-Defense Forces.