Dialog Axiata finalizes acquisition of Airtel Lanka – The Island

by Amal JAYASINGHE

Sri Lanka has asked Russia to allow former soldiers who fought in Moscow’s war with Ukraine to voluntarily return to the country, the government said on Thursday. An official delegation held two days of talks in Moscow this week, during which it sought compensation for 17 Sri Lankans who died in the fighting, the Colombo Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Last month, Sri Lanka’s parliament launched a bipartisan inquiry to trace at least 2,000 veterans who were reported to have enlisted mainly on the Russian side of the war. At least one former soldier has died after joining Ukrainian forces, according to Sri Lankan authorities.

The ministry said the two-day talks in Moscow focused on tracking Sri Lankans sent as soldiers, providing aid to those reported to have been injured and searching for missing persons. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya, who led the delegation in Moscow, raised the issue of voluntary returns, early termination of contracts and settlement of salaries, the ministry said.

As Sri Lanka’s economy collapsed in 2022, people began looking for work abroad wherever they could find it – including former soldiers who joined forces fighting in Ukraine after the Russian invasion. Veterans — some of whom parlayed their life savings into what they thought would be lucrative, non-combat jobs — are desperate to return home.

Their families pressed local authorities to help them return. The government says about a dozen Sri Lankan citizens are also being held as prisoners of war in Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine has taken a heavy toll on Russian troops, and Moscow is looking around the world for more forces to fight. Since the end of a decades-long civil crisis, Sri Lanka has maintained a large army in relation to its population of 22 million. war with the separatist Tamil Tigers in 2009.

Moscow is believed to have hired thousands of foreign fighters, many of them from South Asia. Neither Russia nor Ukraine say how many foreigners serve in their armed forces or how many they hold as prisoners of war.

Colombo has remained neutral in the war in Ukraine, but reports that Russian authorities were supporting the recruitment of former Sri Lankan soldiers have raised tensions.

Police arrested two retired Sri Lankan generals for illegally acting as recruitment agents for Russian mercenary companies, as well as six people who allegedly assisted them with logistical matters. Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry said earlier this month that Moscow had agreed not to recruit any more Sri Lankans into its military.