An official Ukrainian government Twitter account issued an apology after showing a picture of Japan’s wartime Emperor Hirohito alongside Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in a social media video about the defeat of fascism.
"Our sincere apologies to Japan for making this mistake,” read a message on the Ukrainian Twitter feed. "We had no intention to offend the friendly people of Japan.” An edited version of the video without Hirohito’s picture was appended to the post.
The tweet had circulated widely over the weekend and prompted an official protest from Japan. It also threatened to alienate some conservatives from the Ukrainian cause in a country that has been strongly supportive of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since the Russian invasion began.