Japanese Student Attends Graduation Ceremony Dressed As Volodymyr Zelensky

A student in Japan dressed as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky at his graduation ceremony in an effort to "express solidarity" with the war-torn country, as per a report in the BBC. The student, Amiki Yomiuri, entered the Kyoto University campus and drew the attention of others as he was dressed in khaki pants and an olive-coloured shirt, an outfit frequently donned by Mr Zelenskyy. He added that he had worked on growing his beard.

The attire was a part of the university's graduation, where the students were allowed to dress in whatever they wanted. "Since December, when I was growing out my beard, I was told I look like President Zelensky," he told the Japanese news outlet Yomiuri.

The student was holding a wooden shamoji, which is also known as a rice serving spoon, identical to the one that Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gave to Mr Zelensky as a gift during his recent trip to Kyiv.

As seen in pictures on social media, the graduate student also had signs with messages of support and important quotes from Mr Zelensky's speech to the United States Congress in December last year.

You took on student loans, worked part-time jobs, studied hard, labored diligently to receive your college degree, you *should* be able to wear whatever you want.

"Kyoto University allows students to wear whatever they want to their graduation ceremony."

🧐😳

📷 Media Group FB pic.twitter.com/szhEXuVn3R

— Tibor M. Kalman (@kalmantibs) January 1, 2023

Due to the pandemic, this year's graduation ceremony was the first one university students attended in person in three years.

This was not the only unique costume that made the graduation ceremony one of a kind. As per various images shared on Twitter, students could be seen wearing rabbit and otter costumes as well. They were seen collecting their diplomas wearing costumes. 

Meanwhile, Russian shelling of the eastern Ukraine town of Sloviansk on Monday killed at least two people and wounded more than two dozen others, authorities said. "As of 13:00, there are two dead and 29 wounded in Sloviansk," Donetsk Region Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Facebook. He added that "administrative and office buildings, five high-rise buildings and seven private houses were damaged" in the attack.

It is to be noted that the Russian military forces have made the capture of the Donetsk region their main military priority and claimed to have annexed the region last year despite not fully control it.