Japan Foreign Min. Brings Back 20 Ukrainians from Poland

On Tuesday, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi brought back 20 Ukraine evacuees from Poland to Tokyo.

The 20 people were evacuated on a backup government plane in the Polish capital, Warsaw, and were hoping to travel to Tokyo, but were unable to secure their own transportation, according to Minister Hayashi.

Japan took an extraordinary move to use a government plane to airlift the evacuees comes as the price of air tickets to Ukraine has raised since the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine.

Japan's First Deputy Minister Jun Tsushima, who accompanied Hayashi on his trip to Poland, said the government plans to provide support to the 20 evacuees for about 6 months.

The minister's visit to Poland was aimed at demonstrating Japan's commitment to global efforts to help Ukraine and Poland, which has seen the largest number of refugees from Ukraine.

Hayashi pledged to accept as many Ukrainians as possible from a humanitarian perspective when he held talks with his Polish counterpart, Zbigniew Rau, in Warsaw, before meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda, and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Contributed by Israa Farhan