Suriyavewa Nuwan Jayasekara –
Former Ambassador of Sri Lanka Udayanga Weeratunga said that if the government requests him, he can repatriate the Sri Lankan soldiers who are currently working as mercenaries in Russia and Ukraine within a week.
He said this today (12) while answering a question asked by journalists at the Mattala Airport premises.
Udayanga Weeratunga, who commented further, also said,
“Today, the lives of Sri Lankan soldiers are being destroyed prematurely as they are sent to serve as mercenaries in various countries. Various smugglers in Sri Lanka and abroad are involved in this human trafficking. The Government of Sri Lanka as well as the officials should be held responsible for this.
The Russian and Ukrainian governments do not hire mercenaries directly. It is through middlemen that mercenaries are hired. Neither Ukraine nor Russia takes any responsibility for that meeting. No training is given to mercenaries recruited in this way. They lead directly to the front line of the war.
An ambassador from Ukraine told me that there is a mercenary force of about 1500 foreigners in the front ring. Among them, there are a large number of Sri Lankan soldiers. They said that there is no action to bring even the body of a dead person to Sri Lanka.
To legally join the military of Russia or Ukraine, one must be a citizen of that country. Both countries have no responsibility regarding those who are recruited in this way. So this is a racket. Don’t fall for this. This is a one-way ticket and does not come with a return ticket. If I am working as an ambassador, it will take me about a week to resolve this.
So far, it has been reported that nearly 20 of our Sri Lankan soldiers have died in the war. This is a very serious situation. At present, it does not seem that the embassies are taking any action to bring these soldiers back to the island. As the former ambassador to Russia, if the government makes any request from me, I can bring these soldiers to this country within a week.
This issue can be solved in a day after mediating with the government of Russia. But there is no officer in sight to do that. Look, there are ambassadors, there are secretaries, there are more officials. What are these people doing? No one is taking responsibility in this regard.”
The Suspect Major General of human smuggling to Russia war pretended as a reputed Major General
