[Title] Press Conference by the Prime Minister regarding Japan's Response to the Situation in Ukraine

(On the response to the situation in Ukraine)

On the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Kyiv, unforgiveable acts are now coming to light one after the other, including a large number of ordinary citizens found dead in the street, their hands bound behind their backs. I am profoundly shocked at such reports. The killing of innocent civilians is a war crime and Japan has requested the International Criminal Court to undertake a war crimes investigation. I believe Russia must be held strictly accountable. Such aggression, and moreover war crimes, cannot be tolerated. Japan will demonstrate this stance through stringent actions. We are currently engaged in coordination among the G7, but I will spell out our response in concrete terms from tomorrow at the earliest possible time.

Today, I would like to address first of all Japan's acceptance of evacuees from Ukraine. On April 5, 20 evacuees from Ukraine who had difficulties making the journey on their own arrived in Japan on a Japanese governmental aircraft. Beginning this week, the Government of Japan will assist the entry of evacuees to Japan by securing seats each week on direct flights from Poland. In this way, we will continue to enable evacuees from Ukraine in similar circumstances to make their way to Japan smoothly.