Where Has the Japanese Red Cross’s ¥10.2 Billion in Ukraine Relief Donations Gone?

The Japanese Red Cross Society (日本赤十字社, often shortened to “Nisseki”), which has been accepting donations to its “Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Relief Fund” since March 2, 2022, had received ¥10,242,118,053 as of August 31, 2026 (per the Society’s donation page, which notes there may be some discrepancy depending on when banks process incoming payments). The collection period has been extended several times and now runs through March 31, 2027.

Where has this ¥10.2 billion gone, and what has it been used for? This article traces the flow of the money based on reports the Society has made public.

In the First Half Year, ¥5 Billion Went to the International Red Cross

On March 1, 2022, five days after the full-scale invasion began, the Japanese Red Cross Society provided ¥20 million in emergency financial assistance to the international Red Cross, and on the following day, March 2, it began accepting donations to the relief fund.

The donations collected were sent to two international Red Cross bodies: the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which works in conflict zones, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC, referred to by the Japanese Red Cross as “the Federation”), an alliance of national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies. Laying out the Society’s announcements in order, the remittances built up as follows.

As of August 5, remittances to IFRC and ICRC combined reached ¥5.02 billion, ¥2.51 billion to each. The current donation page states that “¥5 billion has been remitted” (¥2.5 billion each to ICRC and IFRC). Adding the ¥20 million from March 1 gives a figure matching the “¥5.02 billion in total financial assistance” stated on the activity report page.

How the Donations Accumulated

Meanwhile, the amount received in donations has grown as follows.

This means that more than 60% of the amount received so far was collected in roughly the first five months. After that, a further ¥2.8 billion or so was added by the end of November 2023, and over the two years and nine months from there to the end of August 2026, about ¥1 billion more was added.

The collection period has also been extended repeatedly. It was originally set to end on May 31, 2022. It was then pushed back to September 30, then to March 31, 2023, March 31, 2024, and March 31, 2025, and in March 2026 it was extended again from the then-current end date of March 31, 2026 to March 31, 2027. When it announced the extension in September 2022, the Society explained that the reason was the prolonging of the conflict and the need for medium- to long-term support and post-conflict reconstruction assistance.

The Remaining ¥5 Billion or So: Bilateral Programs with the Ukrainian Red Cross Society

After the ¥5 billion was sent to the international Red Cross, how has the rest of the donated funds been used? In its February 2024 report, the Japanese Red Cross Society wrote that, of the ¥9,179,396,351 received by the end of November 2023, ¥5 billion had been sent to the international Red Cross, and the remaining ¥4.17 billion was being used to advance bilateral programs run in cooperation with the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, among other things.

According to the March 2026 summary, the Society is running the following programs, mainly targeting western Ukraine, where many evacuees have taken shelter.

The Society’s activity report page describes these programs in a bit more detail. The home care program uses social helpers to support elderly people living alone because a family member has gone to the front, as well as evacuees and people with disabilities and their families. The community center in Vinnytsia Oblast is planned as a base for services such as a clinic, an ambulance, mobile clinics, and home visit nursing care. The report also states that the Society has provided ten ambulances (five for rescue teams and five for mobile clinics, procured through IFRC because procurement within Ukraine is difficult), financial assistance for cash grants distributed by the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (targeted especially at host families taking in internally displaced people), and severe-winter support such as generators and 3,000 household firewood stoves in 2022 and 1,000 ceramic heaters in 2023.

People have also been dispatched. Since May 2024, the Japanese Red Cross Society has maintained a full-scale local delegation in the capital, Kyiv, to manage its programs. It has so far sent three physical therapists to Ukraine to provide technical guidance on rehabilitation, and immediately after the full-scale invasion began, it sent a pharmacist and a radiologic technologist to help set up a temporary clinic in Uzhhorod in the west of the country.

However, how much has been spent on bilateral programs so far, and how much remains for future programs, could not be confirmed on the Japanese Red Cross Society’s public pages. The donation page states that the amount remaining after remittances to the international Red Cross is “used for support for people who need assistance in this humanitarian crisis and for reconstruction support.”

What the Money Sent to the International Red Cross Was Used For

The ¥5 billion sent by the Japanese Red Cross Society went toward emergency appeals (requests for financial assistance) issued separately by IFRC and ICRC. From this point on, the money is used together with funds gathered from Red Cross societies around the world, so the Japanese Society’s portion cannot be separated out. What can be known is the scale of the appeals overall and the content of the activities.

According to the revised appeal IFRC issued on December 17, 2025, from February 2022 through December 2024 the IFRC network delivered more than 22 million humanitarian support services within Ukraine and in 45 countries, including more than 2 million mental health and psychosocial support services. The funding request stood at 800 million Swiss francs for the IFRC secretariat, and 3.1 billion Swiss francs overall including the domestic activities of national Red Cross societies. The appeal’s deadline has been extended to December 31, 2027.

ICRC has been active in Ukraine since 1993. In its 2026 appeal, it sets its budget for Ukraine at 155.509 million Swiss francs and says it will focus on protecting prisoners of war and detained civilians, and on tracing the whereabouts of family members who have been separated. According to ICRC, more than 190,000 people are the subject of tracing requests related to this armed conflict, most of them military personnel.

On the Red Cross’s Choice of Words

In the Japanese Red Cross Society reports referenced in this article, Russia’s full-scale invasion is described as “the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine” and “Ukraine’s humanitarian crisis”; the word “aggression” is not used. This follows from the Red Cross’s Fundamental Principles. One of the seven principles the Society upholds, “Neutrality,” states that the Movement “may not take sides in hostilities or engage at any time in controversies of a political, racial, religious or ideological nature.” ICRC likewise states in its 2026 appeal that it will continue to act as a “neutral intermediary” between the parties to the conflict when asked to do so.

For the same reason, Red Cross assistance also extends outside Ukraine. The Japanese Red Cross Society’s donation page describes the intended use of funds as “humanitarian crisis response within Ukraine and relief activities in neighboring and other countries receiving evacuees from Ukraine.” In the Society’s 2022 announcements, the national Red Cross societies of neighboring countries supported by IFRC were listed as Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova, and Romania, alongside Russia and Belarus, and IFRC’s 2025 appeal also keeps funding lines open for the Moldovan Red Cross Society and the Russian Red Cross Society. A breakdown of how much of the Japanese Society’s relief fund was used in which country has not been made public.

Ukrainavi’s own position, as stated elsewhere on this site, is to write of “Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.” That said, understanding why the Red Cross uses different language is useful to know when considering a donation. How much aid organizations disclose about their activities, and how to read what they publish, is also covered in How Much Do Aid Organizations Disclose?