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Editor's note: The article was updated after Japan and Ukraine signed a memorandum of cooperation in the spheres of law and justice.
Japanese Justice Minister Ryuji Koizumi arrived in Ukraine on Aug. 5 to discuss possible cooperation in judicial reform and the fight against corruption.
Upon arrival, Koizumi met Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin and paid a visit to the Bucha victims' memorial. He also visited a coordination center for the victims and witnesses of the massacre carried out in the town by Russian occupation forces in early 2022.
Bucha, a suburb northwest of Kyiv, was occupied by Russian troops shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
After the town was liberated at the end of March 2022, mass graves with civilians were discovered, and thousands of war crimes were documented, making Bucha a symbol of Russian atrocities in Ukraine.
Later the same day, Koizumi met his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Maliuska, to sign a memorandum on cooperation in the fields of law and justice.
"Areas of cooperation include anti-corruption efforts, judicial reform, and institutional capacity building," the Japanese Embassy said.
Japan has committed over $12 billion worth of humanitarian, economic, and other assistance to Ukraine since March 2022. Under a security agreement signed in June, Tokyo pledged to provide Ukraine with an additional $4.5 billion in 2024 and to continue to support the country throughout the next 10 years.
Koizumi's visit comes only a week after his colleague, Education and Science Minister Masahito Moriyama, arrived in Kyiv to discuss cooperation in cultural and educational spheres.
Martin Fornusek
