when Russia sends Sri Lankans to the front

In the suburbs of the Sri Lankan capital, it is the story of a simple hotel employee who found himself, like hundreds of Sri Lankans, trapped to go and fight in Ukraine. He spent 50 days as a soldier in the Russian army, which he said used Sri Lankan recruits as cannon fodder. “They sent the Sri Lankans first, behind us there was no one else”he lamented. “We didn’t see any Ukrainian soldiers, we didn’t see anything”he added. He was injured in the legs and pelvis by bombs.

He found himself drafted into Russia among hundreds of other Sri Lankans. He never would have imagined fighting. During a first call in March 2024, he was promised a simple job as a driver. A promise in which hundreds have believed. In Sri Lanka, hundreds of families no longer have news of a son, a brother or a father who went to the front. The country announced that Russia had stopped recruiting its nationals. Moscow also acknowledged the deaths of 24 Sri Lankan soldiers in their ranks.