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Ukraine Warns Japan of Hybrid Warfare After Pro-Russian Event in Parliament Facility
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Ukraine is demanding a formal response from Tokyo after the flags of the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of " DPR ” and " LPR ” were displayed during a pro-Russian lecture held inside a Japanese parliamentary building, Hromadske reported on March 30, 2026.
The event, titled “Crisis in Ukraine,” took place in the First Parliamentary Building of the House of Representatives and was heavily promoted by the Russian Embassy in Japan.
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Russian officials claimed the seminar was attended by approximately 100 people, including former members of parliament, Japanese political figures, experts, and members of the business community. Despite the official venue, the program was a concentrated effort to disseminate Kremlin propaganda, featuring prominent displays of the illegal symbols of occupied Ukrainian territories, Hromadske wrote.
This incident mirrored a similar previous provocation by the Russian Embassy in Seoul, which hung a massive “Victory will be ours” banner to mark the fourth anniversary of the invasion. South Korean officials formally demanded its removal, condemning the embassy’s attempt to project Kremlin war propaganda and historic Soviet slogans into the heart of the capital.
The seminar in Japan was organized by Kenna Tanaka, a Japanese historian and head of the Japan-Russia Friendship Association. Tanaka used the platform to recount his personal visits to the occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk while repeating the Russian narrative of an “unconstitutional coup” in Ukraine in 2014.
A Russian envoy was also present at the gathering, delivering a presentation that blamed the “root causes of the conflict" on the West and accused the Ukrainian government of crimes against its own civilian population.
The Embassy of Ukraine in Japan issued a statement confirming that the event was a clear attempt to spread disinformation and manipulative narratives under the guise of an “expert” seminar.
While the Embassy acknowledged that such initiatives are private in nature and do not reflect the official position of the Japanese government, they expressed deep concern over the use of pseudo-republic symbols as tools of Russian propaganda.
“Truth and international law must remain the basis of public discussions, especially when it comes to the war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine,” the Ukrainian Embassy stated.
Diplomats emphasized that they expect a “proper political and legal assessment of such actions” to prevent the further misuse of parliamentary facilities for hybrid warfare.
The incident in Tokyo is a localized example of Russia’s global strategy to establish “proxy agents” across the world to undermine international support for Ukraine. By utilizing local historians, friendship associations, and cultural groups, Moscow attempts to bypass official diplomatic channels and inject its narratives directly into foreign political discourse.
Security experts have previouslty warned that these hybrid operations are designed to test the resilience of democratic legal frameworks, often using “private events” to display illegal symbols and spread disinformation that official government bodies would otherwise prohibit.
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