Sri Lankan mercenaries in Russia reluctant to return home, seek citizenship

Those wounded among the Sri Lankan mercenaries in Russia are reluctant to return to the island nation as they hope to receive Russian citizenship, a minister said on Saturday.

Many Sri Lankan mercenaries had left for Russia through agents and were forced to fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“Many Sri Lankan mercenaries fighting in the Ukraine front have become Russian citizens, making it difficult to give them diplomatic support,” Economy Next quoted Foreign Minister Ali Sabry as saying.

“They have taken Russian citizenship at the moment,” Sabry said on Friday.

“If you take another country’s citizenship you lose Sri Lankan citizenship, so if you are no longer a citizen of Sri Lanka we lose the right to represent you, that is the problem unless they apply for dual citizenship,” Sabry said.

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While some appeared to have been misled that they would be camp helpers in support roles and pushed into combat, others may have known the actual stakes involved, he said.

The State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya, who has just returned from Russia after having led a high-powered delegation to discuss with the Russian authorities the human smuggling operation of ex-military men, said: “We were provided details of 464 of them. As many as 17 have died. We also discussed the issue of paying compensation to them." The Sri Lankan minister said the two days of talks with Russian authorities were centred on the 17 Sri Lankans killed in action, payment of compensation for the deceased and the wounded, the plight of the uncontactable Lankans, the possibility of voluntary returns, early termination of contracts and regularisation of remuneration.

An initiative to prevent Sri Lankan retired military personnel from being illegally recruited and trafficked to fight in the war between Russia and Ukraine was tabled during the visit, according to a News First Lanka report.

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MP Gamini Valeboda said discussions were held with high-ranking Russian officials, including the Deputy Minister of Defence and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and a joint committee comprising representatives from both countries’ relevant ministries and the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia has been established.

Valeboda also highlighted the seriousness of the situation and said smugglers were charging families of these veterans over Rs. 1 billion to facilitate their illegal deployment.

The government blamed foreign employment agencies for carrying out a racket of people smuggling. Many retired military officers and foreign employment agency personnel are remanded for the racket.