In about a month, the third semester (second semester) will be over. What kind of year was it for you? On February 24, just one year ago, when the third semester was about to end, Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine. The war began because its leaders believed in and based their deeply entrenched biased views of a nuclear-armed superpower. Many Ukrainians were cruelly killed for no good reason.

If you look at Russia in the middle, the neighbor to the west is Ukraine, and the neighbor to the east is Japan. In fact, the war in Ukraine seems to be happening in a distant country, but it is happening "next door" to Japan. The country that continues its aggression is also Japan's next door neighbor. In that light, it is no stranger to Japan. It is necessary for elementary and junior high school students to think daily about how to prevent war from happening again in Japan and find their own solutions.

During the first summer vacation since the war began, we have started a project on Gakken Kids' Net to answer questions that elementary and junior high school students may have about this war. The web article "Why Russia's Invasion of Ukraine? Why?" is a record of about a year of the Russian-Ukrainian war that I have been keeping an eye on together with you. What are the reasons for the war?" How are the Ukrainians doing? When will the war end? We received many questions such as "When will the war end? I have calmly answered each and every one of them, even when I wanted to cover my eyes, when I felt indignation, when I wanted to cry, or when I was trembling with anger. I will continue to answer as many of your questions as possible without stopping. By continuing to wish for a quick end to this war with you, I believe that a day of peace will soon come to Ukraine, and that the country will return to the smiling faces of its people...