Japan plans to dispatch a Self-Defense Forces airplane as soon as later this month to help transport relief items for Ukrainian refugees to Romania and Poland, government sources said Thursday.
The mission is expected to last until the end of June, the sources said.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine in its second month and some 4 million people having fled their homes, the sources said the SDF plane will pick up supplies stockpiled in Dubai and Mumbai, such as blankets and sleeping mats, and transport them to Poland and Romania, where many Ukrainians have sought refuge.
Japan is considering sending a C-2 transport aircraft of the Air Self-Defense Force, with the plane expected to transport the items once a week from late April for a total of around 10 flights, according to the sources.
The dispatch, which will be decided on by the Cabinet next week at the earliest, is in response to a request by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, according to the sources.
The SDF plane will be sent as part of international humanitarian relief operations in line with a law that enables Japanese participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations as well as other operations, the sources said.
Earlier this month, the government decided to donate aid, including blankets, to the U.N. refugee agency. The supplies will be sent to Warsaw via a different route from the SDF aircraft set to leave Japan later this month.
In March, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government delivered bulletproof vests and helmets to Ukraine via Poland with the use of SDF planes.
