After World War II, Yasuhiko Ito, a disarmed soldier of the Imperial Japanese Army, was taken by the former Soviet Union to Ukraine, about 8,000 kilometers from Japan, for forced labor under freezing conditions.
Despite the term "Siberian internment," the sites of captivity extended across a wide area that included Ukraine, Mongolia and Central Asia.
In an interview conducted before his death in May at the age of 100, Ito, then living in the city of Fukuoka, spoke with a pained expression. "My heart aches over Russia's invasion (of Ukraine). I'm worried that prisoners of war may be interned again," he said.
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