Japan student arrives at his graduation dressed as Ukraine’s Zelensky: ‘I am…’ | CPT PPP Coverage

A student in Japan showed up at his graduation wearing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s now iconic olive sweater and khaki trouser combo. Graduation ceremonies in Japan usually see graduates in suits or formal wear. But Kyoto University has its own tradition where students opt for different attires on their big day.

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“I am President Zelensky,” the student told local TV network Yomiuri, Sky News reported. The student said that he started growing out his beard to look more like the Ukrainian leader after people told him he looked similar to him.

The student was also seen holding a sign carrying messages expressing his support for Ukraine amid Ukraine war. He also held a placard which included a passage from Zelensky’s speech in December at the US Congress. The student also held a wooden shamoji – a rice serving spoon – similar to the one that Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida presented to Zelensky as a gift during his trip to Kyiv last week.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian President said that Russian troops were holding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant “hostage” adding that its safety could not be guaranteed until they left it. Ukraine’s forces shut the frontline town of Avdiivka, he informed.

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“Holding a nuclear power station hostage for more than a year – this is surely the worst thing that has ever happened in the history of European or world-wide nuclear power,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address decrying Russian presence as “radiation blackmail”.

The comments came after Zelensky’s meeting with Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Restoring safety and security without an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from the plant is not possible, Zelensky said.

Zaporizhzhia is one of four regions Russia claimed to annex in September.