Japan has sent non-lethal defense equipment, humanitarian supplies, and evacuees to the opposition in reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. As part of international sanctions, Russia's central bank has been restricted in its transactions, and some Russian organizations have been barred from using SWIFT. Following the release of a study on Russian war crimes, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that Japan will no longer purchase Russian oil and coal.
It's hardly surprising that Japan is on board. The Russian invasion is a blatant violation of Japan's long-standing commitment to the rule of law. Japan has offered aid and diplomacy to former Soviet nations, notably Ukraine, to encourage democratic change, good governance, and economic growth since the 1990s. Following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, Japan joined the G7 sanctions against Russia. Human rights and territorial integrity were only two of the numerous problems addressed in UN resolutions in which Japan took the lead. A Japanese prime minister visited Ukraine for the first time in 2015, and then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko reciprocated the following year.