Foreign Wars and conflicts

The war in Ukraine

That's who Fuminori Tsukiko is: the 75-year-old Japanese turned hero of Kharkiv

He was traveling to Poland when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Then the decision to help the Ukrainian people. Now he has gone further: he will sell his house in Japan to move permanently to the country at war.

24/02/2023

Oleksandr YANOVSKY/AFPTV/AFP

White mustache and goatee, a contagious smile and a cap with the image of the stamp issued to commemorate the resistance of Ukrainian sailors of the Island of Snakes against the Russian ship "Moskva" in the first days of the war. On the shoulders, a cape with the yellow and blue colors of Ukraine. Fuminori Tsukiko became the hero of Kharkiv. The elderly Japanese was traveling to Poland when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Instead of returning to his country, the 75-year-old decided to go first to Kiev, and then to Kharkiv, where residents ended up living in metro stations to hide from Russian attacks. Fuminori soon became a perfect helper: he collects donations via social media to buy food and toys for the children. "I get support from Japan, so many people help Ukrainians," he stressed. "I don't run away," he says determinedly. "Now I live in Kharkiv, I will not go back to Japan. I like Ukraine, I love Kharkiv. Kiev will rebuild the city."