Photo/Illutration Yusei Tsuji shows a photo of himself and his mother, Valeria, stored on his smartphone. (Yoshiki Yashiro)

KUMAMOTO—A 12-year-old boy who fled Ukraine  days before Russia’s military invasion gets nervous during phone calls with his mother when she mentions that she hears air raid sirens.

Yusei Tsuji’s mother, Valeria, 44, remained in her now war-torn home country to take care of relatives.

Their separation was supposed to have been brief, but they now can only pray for the day when they can finally be reunited.

Yusei’s father, Hidetaka, 52, is Japanese. Yusei also has a 16-year-old brother.

Six years ago, the two brothers and their mother moved to Dnipro, about 500 kilometers southeast of Kyiv, so that Valeria could obtain more skills to further her career.

Yusei attended an elementary school in Dnipro while his older brother returned to Japan in 2020 to attend senior high school.

Hidetaka realized the situation in Ukraine was worsening based on information he obtained from the Foreign Ministry and other sources.

On Feb. 18, he met up with his wife and Yusei at an airport in neighboring Poland because he wanted to send the boy to Japan. The boy at the time never dreamed that war would break out.

Valeria told Yusei that she would go to Japan within two months to bring him back to Ukraine.

Yusei arrived in Japan on Feb. 20. Four days later, Russia invaded Ukraine.

The airport outside Kyiv that Yusei and his mother used to fly to Poland was one of the targets bombed by Russian forces.

Yusei now spends his days anxiously trying to exchange phone and short messages with his mother on his smartphone. They are in contact at least three times a day, but Yusei cannot help but worry when his mother says she hears sirens.

When Kumamoto Castle was lit up from March 1 in yellow and blue lights, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, Yusei sent his mother a photo of it.

There are no signs yet that Dnipro has come under attack, but Hidetaka worries because it is a major industrial city.

Valeria has been forced to stay at home, and she only goes shopping late at night when it is comparatively safer. She heads to an underground shelter when the sirens sound.

Russia on March 3 announced that it had taken control of the southern city of Kherson. At least 2,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the fighting.

“I hope people from other nations will help Ukraine,” Yusei said.

He says he passes on information about Ukraine he sees on Japanese TV because his mother said she could not obtain reliable information there.

Although Yusei initially intended to stay in Japan for only a short period, he has been attending a cram school to improve his Japanese and could possibly enter a Japanese junior high school in spring.

“When the war ends, I want to return to Ukraine and hug my mother,” he said.

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