Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence has confirmed that a number of its retired war veterans have died or sustained injuries after being sent to the Russian-Ukrainian war front as members of mercenary groups.
The Ministry of Defence said several retired war veterans had been caught in a scheme by some illegal foreign job agents and had been sent to the Russian-Ukrainian war front as members of mercenary groups.
Issuing a statement, the Defence Ministry said it has also been revealed that a significant number of war veterans, who had immensely contributed to Sri Lanka’s 30-year civil war, have died and sustained injuries on the battlefield.
“It is regrettable that such war veterans who have served and retired with honour in the armed forces of Sri Lanka are acting as mercenaries in foreign countries,” it said.
These war veterans had left for the Russian-Ukrainian war front as mercenaries after being duped by these human traffickers who had promised them an opportunity to join the foreign army, handsome salaries, citizenship in those countries and other benefits.
However, neither the serving nor the injured had received any salaries or benefits and these traffickers have not even given any sort of compensation to the families of those injured or the dead. Further, they have failed to provide any information on the whereabouts of those war veterans to their families as well, it said.
The Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have taken steps to obtain factual information about the war veterans and casualties at the Russian-Ukrainian war front.
The Defence Ministry has made a special request to Sri Lankan war veterans not to be caught in such illegal schemes and put their lives at risk by joining foreign mercenary groups. (Newswire)