Photo/Illutration A Self-Defense Forces vehicle (Provided by the Defense Ministry)

Japan plans to dispatch about 100 Self-Defense Forces vehicles under a new package of support measures to Ukraine after having sent bulletproof vests, helmets and other items.

Two six-seater trucks, which Ground SDF members used, were handed over at the Defense Ministry on May 24 as the first batch.

Toshiro Ino, state minister of defense, and Sergiy Korsunsky, Ukraine’s ambassador to Japan, attended the handover ceremony.

In addition to six-seater trucks, the vehicles bound for Ukraine are expected to include four-wheel-drive 10-seat general-purpose trucks and materials transport vehicles that can carry debris, according to the Defense Ministry.

All vehicles are equipped with rifle holders, where SDF members can prop up their weapons when they are not in use. 

A Defense Ministry spokesman said on May 23 that the rifle holders on the vehicles are not the type of equipment that can be used to kill or injure enemy combatants. 

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida conveyed plans to provide SDF vehicles to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima on May 21.

Kishida also said Japan will provide about 30,000 emergency rations and accept Ukrainian soldiers wounded in the war against Russia at the Self-Defense Forces Central Hospital in Tokyo, according to the Japanese government.

SDF vehicles will be provided to Ukraine in accordance with Japanese laws and regulations, Yoshihiko Isozaki, a deputy chief Cabinet secretary, said on May 21.

Related News