Exclusive Photos Reveal Why Japanese Youth Who Joined Russian Military as Volunteers Perished on the Battlefield

“He arrived in Russia alone around October last year. He researched the battlefield himself and came with an unsolicited English document applying to join the Pyatnashka Brigade, which gathers foreign volunteers. He seemed to have studied history, including the Maidan Revolution, which was a cause of Russia’s military invasion, and said, ‘Although it’s said that Ukraine is just, I believe Russia has a point.'”

On July 23, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi announced that a Japanese volunteer soldier had been killed in combat during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has lasted for two and a half years since the invasion began. The deceased was a 29-year-old former Self-Defense Force member who died in Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. Why did he join the Russian military, and what was his final fate?

Daisaku Kaneko, who fought as a sniper in the Russian Ministry of Defense’s special forces, spoke about the mysterious death of his comrade.

“He was living alone in Osaka City and had been stationed at the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force base in Shinodayama (Izumi City) for four years. I heard he held the rank of sergeant. He was a former Self-Defense Force member, and his father is a public servant in Osaka Prefecture, so there was potential for an international issue if anything happened. I advised him, ‘When you return, it would be better to say you were a war correspondent rather than mentioning participation in combat,’ but he did not seem to be concerned.”

The Japanese volunteer soldier who joined the Pyatnashka Brigade was assigned to an assault unit. He preferred the style of an assault soldier, charging into enemy territory on foot with a gun, but he reportedly had difficulty participating in combat.

“It seems the commander judged him as ‘not yet ready for actual combat.’ As far as I know, he had not been deployed even once until the city of Avdiivka in eastern Donetsk Oblast, which was on the front line of Ukraine’s defense, fell in February this year. He was deeply troubled by the reality of not being relied upon in actual combat.”

About two months after the fall of the city, in April, the man was seen at a military registration office in Tambov, southwestern Russia. There, he joined a new unit and was ordered to participate in an operation involving around 100 soldiers. However—

“During the assault operation on eastern Ukraine that took place from late night on May 28 to the early morning of May 29, he was reported to have died from a Ukrainian mortar attack, according to a former Pyatnashka Brigade member who went on the mission with him. It was said to be his first or second day in the battlefield. When mortars are fired by the enemy, there are instructions like ‘danger’ or ‘take cover,’ but he might not have been able to avoid it due to his lack of proficiency in Russian.”

On the other hand, the Russian government took an unusual approach regarding the deceased Japanese volunteer soldier.

“Normally, when a militia member dies, the body would be buried on the battlefield. However, in this case, despite the breakdown of communication between the countries, the body was transported to Moscow, and after confirmation by the father, procedures were made to send it to Japan. According to Russian law, transporting the body to Japan is not permitted. Additionally, the Russian side has promised to pay condolence money to the surviving family.”

In this unending quagmire of war, another precious young life has been lost.

From the August 16, 2024 issue of ‘FRIDAY’.