{"id":79669,"date":"2022-09-23T00:54:14","date_gmt":"2022-09-23T04:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=79669"},"modified":"2022-09-23T22:47:17","modified_gmt":"2022-09-24T02:47:17","slug":"ukraine-president-zelenskys-announcement-about-rescuing-7-sri-lankans-held-as-captives-by-invading-russian-forces-shocks-sri-lanka-and-entangles-colombo-and-moscow-in-a-potential-diplom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=79669","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine President Zelensky\u2019s Announcement about Rescuing 7 Sri Lankans Held as Captives by Invading Russian Forces Shocks Sri Lanka and Entangles Colombo and Moscow in a Potential Diplomatic Wrangle"},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly said seven Sri Lankans, who were held by the \u201cinvading Russian forces since March\u201d in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, had been rescued from \u201ctorture chambers\u201d. <\/p>\n

Mr. Zelenskyy drew attention to the \u201cseven citizens of Sri Lanka\u201d, who were \u201cstudents of Kupiansk Medical College\u201d. \u201cBack in March, they had been captured by Russian soldiers and subsequently kept in a basement. <\/p>\n

Only now, after the liberation of the Kharkiv region, were these people rescued. They are being provided with proper medical care,\u201d he was quoted as saying by a Ukrainian media outlet, widely cited by Sri Lankan media.<\/p>\n

The development came as a shock to many in Sri Lanka, as there had been no reports of Sri Lankans missing in Ukraine or being held in captive by Russian forces. Since Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Sri Lankan authorities facilitated the return of over 90 Sri Lankans, including 16 students living in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

According to official sources in Colombo, Sri Lanka was not aware of seven other Sri Lankans caught or trapped in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Reporting from Kharkiv this week, BBC said the Sri Lankans were imprisoned, forced into labour and \u201ceven tortured\u201d during the last four months. \u201cWe thought we would never get out alive,\u201d one of the men in the rescued group was quoted as saying, while another showed an injury from alleged torture.<\/p>\n

Close contact<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on September 17 said it had requested the Ukrainian government \u2018to ascertain the veracity of the news item\u201d, as well as to provide more information on it \u201cas a matter of priority\u2019, and is awaiting a response, according to an official. <\/p>\n

Colombo is in \u201cclose communication\u201d with the Ukrainian Government through the Sri Lanka Embassy in Ankara which is concurrently accredited to Ukraine, as well as through the Ukrainian Embassy in New Delhi, the Ministry said in its statement last week.
\nMeanwhile, officials in Colombo told local media that the seven Sri Lankans were not students but \u201cillegal immigrants\u201d trying to flee the island nation\u2019s economic distress and claimed they did not wish to return. <\/p>\n

Following the crisis this year, the Sri Lankan Navy has intercepted a total of 966 persons so far. They were on illegal boats and trying to migrate to allegedly to Australia and Europe, a Navy official told The Hindu.<\/p>\n

Another 229 persons found in hotels along coastal districts were also apprehended, the official said. However, it remains unclear where exactly the seven Sri Lankans are from and how they ended up in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Speaking to The Hindu, a senior official at the Foreign Ministry said the development must be seen in the context of Sri Lanka\u2019s position in regard to Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine. \u201cOur position is somewhat like India\u2019s,\u201d the official said, requesting anonymity, owing to \u201cdiplomatic sensitivities\u201d.<\/p>\n

Deeply concerned<\/strong><\/p>\n

Soon after the invasion in February, the Government of Sri Lanka said it was \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d about the escalation of violence and urged \u201call parties\u201d concerned to exercise \u201cmaximum restraint and work towards the immediate cessation of hostilities, to maintain peace, security and stability in the region.\u201d \u201cUkraine and other actors backing it were unhappy with our position, they expressed displeasure,\u201d the Foreign Ministry official said, suggesting that the current development was possibly a \u201cpressure\u201d tactic.<\/p>\n

On the claims of torture, the official said: \u201cWe need to verify that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka has traditionally had strong diplomatic ties with Russia, and the two countries are marking 65 years of diplomatic relations this year. At the height of the fuel shortages in Sri Lanka in July, former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for help with urgent fuel supplies.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Meera Srinivasan Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly said seven Sri Lankans, who were held by the \u201cinvading Russian forces since March\u201d in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, had been rescued from \u201ctorture chambers\u201d. Mr. Zelenskyy drew attention to the \u201cseven citizens of Sri Lanka\u201d, who were \u201cstudents of Kupiansk Medical College\u201d. \u201cBack …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Ukraine President Zelensky\u2019s Announcement about Rescuing 7 Sri Lankans Held as Captives by Invading Russian Forces Shocks Sri Lanka and Entangles Colombo and Moscow in a Potential Diplomatic Wrangle’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79669"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=79669"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79670,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79669\/revisions\/79670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=79669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=79669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}