Telling Ukraine’s Story to Japan
As Ukraine is burned and bombed, one family builds a bridge from Kyiv to Japan.
As the Russian war against Ukraine drives an escalating humanitarian catastrophe, which the U.N. says could soon swell to 4 million refugees, one Ukrainian family with deep ties to Japan is staying put. Two Ukrainian-Japanese brothers, Bogdan Parkhomenko and Stephan Seki, adjust a laptop and check the sound before the older brother, Bogdan, smiles, waves, and greets his audience with konbanwa (“good evening” in Japanese).
The brothers, along with their mother, Stephan’s girlfriend, and Bogdan’s beloved Yorkshire terrier Yolka, have been sheltering inside their Kyiv home as the war grinds on around them.
Before Russia’s February offensive, Bogdan, 35, and his younger brother Stephan, 22, were operating an international trading company, importing health and beauty products from Japan. Now, with ordinary life snuffed out by war, Bogdan has taken on the role of speaking to Japanese media and his followers on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram about life under siege in Kyiv.
Want to read more?
Subscribe for full access.
SubscribeThe Authors
Jon Letman is a Hawaii-based independent journalist covering politics, people and the environment in the Asia-Pacific region. He has written for Al Jazeera, Foreign Policy in Focus, Inter Press Service and others.