Hundreds gather in Osaka to protest war in Ukraine, call for peace

OSAKA -- Hundreds of people including Ukrainians living in west Japan's Kansai region gathered in front of JR Osaka Station on March 5 for a peace rally as Russia's military operation in Ukraine intensifies.

A Ukrainian living in Osaka used social media to call for the demonstration at Osaka Station. Some 300 people took to the streets to protest the war, where they held blue and yellow Ukrainian flags and chanted "stop the war" and "peace in Ukraine."

Olena Sigal, 45, a Kyoto resident from Ukraine capital Kyiv, delivered a speech at the rally. She described her worries about the fierce combat continuing in the area where her relatives live, and told the audience, "A time of peace has been destroyed by force. We must work together to end this senseless war as soon as possible."

(Japanese original by Shiho Matsumoto, Osaka City News Department)