LVIV, Ukraine - A Japanese volunteer soldier who lost his left leg fighting Russian forces in Ukraine says foreign recruits were often sent into dangerous combat with little information, yet after four years on the front lines he still intends to return to the battlefield once his treatment is complete.
Speaking at a rehabilitation facility in Ukraine's western Lviv region in May, he said he was sent on dangerous missions without being properly briefed. "Foreigners were simply used to fill gaps on the front lines."
Leaning on crutches, the former member of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force is missing his left leg below the knee after being struck by shrapnel from a mortar shell on the eastern front. He also suffered severe injuries to his right arm and back.
"I've lost a lot of strength after spending so long in hospital," he said with a wry smile.
Many of the comrades he served alongside have been killed, but he says he has no intention of leaving Ukraine before what he calls its "victory."
After Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy established a foreign legion and appealed to military veterans around the world to join the country's defense.
According to the Ukrainian government, more than 20,000 people from around 50 countries expressed interest in volunteering.
The Japanese volunteer said he had long been driven by military training.
"People might think I'm a bit crazy, but preparing for future wars was what I lived for."
Unable to accept Russia's invasion, he first applied through the Ukrainian Embassy in Japan. Although he initially abandoned the idea after the Japanese government advised against travel, he could not bring himself to give it up.
In March 2022, he traveled to the Ukrainian Embassy in Poland before crossing into Ukraine with five other volunteers, including Americans and French nationals.
After two weeks of basic training, he joined the foreign legion and was deployed to Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv region, where fierce fighting was underway. His monthly salary was 140,000 hryvnia, about 500,000 yen ($3,000).
The hastily assembled unit included foreign nationals of Ukrainian origin as well as volunteers seeking the kind of excitement they could not find in everyday life.
Foreign volunteers were rarely given detailed operational plans by Ukraine's regular military, leaving them to face Russian forces while constantly worrying about hidden landmines.
"At the end of the day, we were still outsiders," he said.
He recalls cluster munitions exploding overhead and diving beneath an armored vehicle moments before shrapnel struck. Fragments pierced the eyes of a fellow soldier beside him.
Serving as a sniper on the front line, he later learned through intercepted radio communications that he had killed two Russian soldiers.
"I didn't feel any stress," he said. "It was just a job."
The deaths of fellow volunteers affected him differently.
A Japanese volunteer with whom he had become close was killed by a head injury in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk region. When he arrived, the body had already been covered with a cloth concealing the wounds.
He coped by listening to music.
As the war of attrition dragged on, many foreign volunteers, worn down by the relentless fighting, gradually left Ukraine.
Since 2025, he has served as the leader of a regular drone unit. Although recovering from his injuries, he says his commitment has not changed.
"The front lines are mentally exhausting," he said. "But life in Japan feels too ordinary now."
Once his treatment is complete, he plans to return to his unit.
