Lankan mercenaries in Ukraine:

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, PC, yesterday (08) said that recruitment of foreign personnel for military forces of a particular country was the prerogative of the government concerned.

Dr. Rajapakshe said so when The Island asked him whether the government could prohibit ex-military personnel from joining the Ukrainian military fighting Russian forces.

On the previous day, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, PC, said that the government couldn’t interfere once they leave the country legally. The Russian Embassy in Colombo yesterday declined to comment on the issue for a second consecutive day.

Meanwhile, sources said that the person who had been killed in a Russian artillery strike on Bakhmut early this week never served the Commando Regiment or the Special Forces during the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). A section of the media identified him as Ranish Hewage, Captain of the 1st Commando Regiment. His year of retirement was given as 2018.

However, inquiries revealed that he had been discharged after the conclusion of the war on disciplinary grounds. Hewage had been a Captain and served in the Sri Lanka Light Infantry (SLLI).

Foreign dispatches, including social media, identified Hewage as the commander of the First Special Forces of the International Legion of Territorial Defence of Ukraine, or the Ukrainian Foreign Legion.

Two other ex-Sri Lankan military personnel died in the Russian attack. Navy headquarters yesterday said that one of the dead is believed to be a former Volunteer of the SLN.

Ministerial sources said that during talks between a delegation led by Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev and Public Security Minister Tiran Alles, the visiting group hadn’t raised the issue at hand. The delegation arrived in Colombo from Myanmar after having consultations with the leadership there, sources said, adding that the Russians were here for security consultations.

Sources estimated that there could be about 50 to 70 Lankans either involved with the Ukraine conflict or on their way there. Sources said that financial offers made by Ukraine obviously attracted many ex-military men regardless of the high risks in serving on the front against the Russian army.