Ukrainian Police Learn Forensic Techniques in Tokyo

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:16 JST, July 12, 2023

Senior Ukrainian police officers have begun a forensic training course in Tokyo, learning from Japanese police officers fingerprinting and other techniques to help identify the war dead in their country.

The Ukrainian police requested technical assistance from the Japanese police through the United Nations Development Program and other agencies following difficulties identifying bodies amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Japanese police identified more than 15,000 bodies after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

At Tokyo’s Azabu Police Station on Monday, the first day of the training, two forensics officers explained how Japan’s database of fingerprints and other data are used to identify bodies.

The Japanese officers demonstrated a technique to collect fingerprints from bottles and other objects with aluminum powder and a special brush.

During the training, which runs through Friday, the Ukranian officers will also study DNA analysis and autopsy techniques with police in Fukushima Prefecture, among other locations.