A survey shows that more than 70 percent of evacuees from Ukraine living in Japan hope to stay in the country for a long time.



Monday marks three years since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.



The survey was conducted from October to December last year by the Nippon Foundation, which supports Ukrainian evacuees in Japan, and 887 people responded.



Asked if they want to return to Ukraine, 44.4 percent said they want to stay in Japan as long as possible and 27.1 percent said they want to stay in Japan for a while until the situation in Ukraine calms down.



The foundation provides the annual living expenses of one million yen, or about 6,600 dollars, for Ukrainian evacuees for up to three years.



It announced that it will end the provision of the financial assistance from this month onward, depending on the time of their entry into Japan.



The Immigration Services Agency says that as of the end of January, 1,982 Ukrainian evacuees lived in Japan. Support for their living expenses and employment in Japan continues to be an issue.



Samarukha Oleksandr is a high school student who evacuated from Ukraine to Nagasaki Prefecture, southwestern Japan. He said that at first, he did not understand Japanese and could not take part in classes or tests. He expressed gratitude to teachers and friends who helped him. He said he will go to university in the prefecture in April and wants to become a cabin attendant in the future.