Skip to main content

Conflict: Japanese Billionaire Mikitani Gives Ukraine $8.7m

  


Japanese billionaire Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani said Sunday he will donate $8.7 million to the government of Ukraine, calling Russia’s invasion “a challenge to democracy”.

The founder of e-commerce giant Rakuten said in a letter addressed to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky that the donation of 1 billion yen ($8.7 million) will go toward “humanitarian activities to help people in Ukraine who are victims of the violence”.

Mikitani said he visited Kyiv in 2019 and met with Zelensky.

“My thoughts are with you and Ukraine people,” Mikitani said in his letter.

“I believe that the trampling of a peaceful and democratic Ukraine by unjustified force is a challenge to democracy.

“I sincerely hope that Russia and Ukraine can resolve this issue peacefully and that Ukraine people can have peace again as soon as possible,” he wrote.

Russia’s invasion has prompted broad financial sanctions from major democracies while individuals and organisations across the world have solicited donations to help Ukraine.

The Japanese government has also announced sanctions on Moscow including freezing assets and banning key exports such as semiconductors to organisations related to the Russian military.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

North Korea Blames US For Ukraine Crisis

    North Korea has accused the United States of being the “root cause of the Ukraine crisis” while defending Russia, in Pyongyang’s first official response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia ordered troops into neighbouring Ukraine this week, prompting global outcry and punishing sanctions from the West, some directed against Russian President Vladimir Putin himself. But North Korea, in a muted response issued in the form of a commentary posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website, said the United States was to blame for the unfolding disaster. Washington has pursued “military supremacy in disregard of the legitimate demand of Russia for its security” according to the commentary, attributed to Ri Ji Song, a researcher at the North’s Society for International Politics Study. “The root cause of the Ukrainian crisis also lies in the high-handedness and arbitrariness of the US,” said the post uploaded on the North’s foreign ministry website on Saturday. Ri slammed the US for ho...

Russia Paid Off $20 Billion Debt Owed By African Nations

Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has written off $20 billion of accumulated debt owed by African countries during the Soviet era. Putin said this during the Russia-Africa forum in Sochi. He added that the funds from those debts were being used to set up special programmes to support Africa’s economic development. “Russia had recently written off $20 billion of debt owed by African countries,” Putin said, adding, “funds from those debts were being used to set up special programmes to support Africa’s economic development.” “It was not only an act of generosity but also a manifestation of pragmatism because many of the African states were not able to pay interest on these loans,” he said. The Russian president also said Africa was attractive to Russian businesses as many of the countries have become centres of economic growth. President Putin also said that the Russian Federation would work with Africa to support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement,...

Conditions For Resumption of school Nationwide

The Federal Government has given conditions for academic activities to resume in primary, secondary schools and tertiary institutions in Nigeria. This was disclosed by the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, in Abuja on Tuesday. According to the Minister,  the following guidelines  are to be met by schools before academic activities will resume. All Institutions must have Hand-washing facilities, All institutions must have Body temperature checks All institutions must provide Body disinfectants at all entering points to their major facilities including the gates, hostels, classes, offices, etc. The whole premises of each institution must be decontaminated and All efforts must be geared toward maintenance of the highest level of hygiene Ensure Social and Physical Distancing in class sizes and meeting spaces.” The minister commended the higher institutions for responding promptly with different innovations, including the manufacturing of some of the facilities...