THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
April 28, 2022 at 17:06 JST
The Russian foreign ministry building in Moscow (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Japan reacted with fury to Russia’s announcement it was expelling eight Japanese diplomats from Moscow in a tit-for-tat move over expulsions by Tokyo for the invasion of Ukraine and mass killings of civilians there.
The Russian foreign ministry announced April 27 it had ordered the Japanese diplomats to leave the country by May 10.
Russia accused the Kishida administration of destroying longstanding cooperative ties, which it said was unprecedented.
It also slammed Japan for publicly supporting Ukraine’s “Neo-Nazis” organization and accused it of providing political, economic and military aid to the Ukrainian government.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno expressed outrage at Russia’s decision at an April 28 news conference.
“It is Russia that invited this incident. It is absolutely unacceptable for Russia, which is responsible for driving Japan-Russia relations into this current situation, to make an announcement like this.”
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