COLOMBO: At least 16 Sri Lankan mercenaries have been killed fighting in the war between Russia and Ukraine, the island’s deputy defense minister said Wednesday.
Tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine since the invasion began more than two years ago, and Moscow has been on a global quest for more troops.
Soldiers from Sri Lanka’s regional neighbors India and Nepal have also signed up to fight since last year, with several confirmed deaths in combat from citizens of both countries.
Sri Lanka opened an inquiry last week into the recruitment of its citizens for the conflict that has since identified the participation of 288 retired soldiers from the island nation, deputy defense minister Pramitha Tennakoon said.
“We have confirmed information about 16 who have been killed,” he told reporters in Colombo.
Tennakoon did not say which side of the conflict the soldiers had been fighting on.
But ruling party lawmaker Gamini Waleboda told parliament on Monday that most had been recruited to fight alongside the Russian army.
Those who joined had been duped with promises of high salaries and falsely told they would be given non-combat roles, Waleboda said.
Tennakoon said the recruitment of Sri Lankans was being treated as a human trafficking enterprise and urged military officers not to fall prey to the recruitment drive.
The Sri Lankan government was also in talks with both the Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministries to track down Sri Lankans in the two countries and bring them back safely.
“This is a delicate issue,” Tennakoon said. “We are friends with Russia, we are friends with Ukraine. Both are important for us so we are talking to the foreign ministries to get our people back safely.”
Complaints began pouring in from relatives after the defense ministry established its probe last week to collect information on those who had traveled to both countries to join the war effort.
Sri Lanka has repeatedly warned its citizens against traveling to Russia or Ukraine to join the fighting.
But there are no restrictions on Sri Lankans traveling abroad and large numbers have left in the wake of an unprecedented economic crisis in mid-2022.
Police arrested two retired army officers, including a major general, last week for illegally acting as recruiting agents for Russian mercenary firms.
India and Nepal have also confirmed that numerous citizens of those countries had been recruited to fight alongside the Russian army over the past year.
At least 19 Nepalis had been killed in combat, according to figures from the Himalayan republic published in March.
Russia’s army held off a much-hyped Ukrainian counter-offensive last year and it has since made gains as Kyiv struggles with ammunition and manpower shortages.

NEW DELHI: The United Nations has launched an investigation into an unidentified strike on a UN car in Rafah on Monday that killed its first international staff in Gaza since Oct. 7, a spokesperson for the UN Secretary General said.

The staff member, a retired Indian Army officer named Waibhav Anil Kale, was working with the UN Department of Safety and Security and was on route to the European Hospital in Rafah along with a colleague, who was also injured in the attack.

Israel has been moving deeper into Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than a million people had sought shelter, and its forces pounded the enclave’s north on Tuesday in some of the fiercest attacks in months.

Israel’s international allies and aid groups have repeatedly warned against a ground incursion into Rafah, where many Palestinians fled, and Israel says four Hamas battalions are holed up. Israel says it must root out the remaining fighters.

In a statement on Monday after Kale’s death, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres reiterated an “urgent appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and for the release of all hostages,” saying the conflict in Gaza was continuing to take a heavy toll “not only on civilians, but also on humanitarian workers.”

Palestinian health authorities say Israel’s ground and air campaign in Gaza since Oct. 7 has killed more than 35,000 people and driven most of the enclave’s 2.3 million people from their homes.

His deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Tuesday the UN has established a fact-finding panel to determine the responsibility for the attack.

“It’s very early in the investigation, and details of the incident are still being verified with the Israeli Defense Force,” he said.

There are 71 international UN staff members in Gaza currently, he said.

In its only comment on the matter yet, India’s mission to the UN confirmed Kale’s identity on Tuesday, saying it was “deeply saddened” by his loss.

Israel, which launched its Gaza operation after an attack on Oct. 7 by Hamas-led gunmen who killed some 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages, according to its tallies, has ordered civilians to evacuate parts of Rafah.

The main United Nations aid agency in Gaza, UNRWA estimates some 450,000 people have fled the city since May 6. More than a million civilians had sought refuge there.