Fuminori Tsuchiko makes use of donations from Japan to run a free cafe for residents of Ukraine’s war-hit metropolis of Kharkiv.
This was the scene inside FuMi Caffe as native residents flocked to the cafe in Kharkiv’s northeastern Saltivka district on April 27.
The suburb of the Ukrainian metropolis was hit closely by Russian shelling within the early days of the 2022 Russian invasion. Saltivka stays broken and largely depopulated.
The cafe is run by Fuminori Tsuchiko (pictured) who, along with a crew of volunteers, arms out free meals to round 500 Kharkiv locals throughout a three-hour window that the cafe is open every day.
The 75-year-old says the help operation is funded principally from donations coming from Japan.
Tsuchiko first arrived in Ukraine in early February 2022.
At the urging of the Japanese Embassy, he left for Poland shortly earlier than the full-scale Russian invasion was launched. Soon, nevertheless, he returned to Ukraine. The Tokyo native spent seven months dwelling alongside Kharkiv residents inside the town’s subway system as Russian shells and rockets rained down via a lot of 2022.
Fuminori Tsuchiko greets locals outdoors of his cafe in Kharkiv on April 27.
Tsuchiko informed a Ukrainian journalist, “I’ll reside in Kharkiv after the victory. I wouldn’t have a home in Japan. I bought every thing. So I’m right here without end and can assist Kharkiv.’
Tsuchiko walks previous war-damaged buildings in Kharkiv.
Anna Tovstopyatova, a customer to the cafe on April 27, informed a Reuters journalist she had come to make a donation.
‘It’s nice that there are such honest folks with open hearts and souls, who sacrifice their life and time to assist and provides hope,’ Tovstopyatova stated.
Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Republished with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Washington DC 20036