COLOMBO (NewsRadio); State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya claims the seven Sri Lankans who were recently rescued by Ukrainian forces after being allegedly captured and tortured by Russian soldiors in the Kharkiv region are asylum seekers who were attempting to enter Europe illegally.
Speaking to media, State Minister Balasuriya said the seven Sri Lankans are not medical students as claimed by media outlets.
The State Minister also said the group is unwilling to return to Sri Lanka despite efforts made by authorities to expatriate them.
State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya noted that from the outset they took measures to facilitate the return of Sri Lankans from the war zone adding however they cannot forcefully expatriate any individuals.
Meanwhile, pictures of the seven Sri Lankan students who were forcibly detained by the Russian soldiers in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine were released in the past few days.
Ukrainian journalist Maria Romanenko posted the photos on her Twitter account. She also said that the seven Lankans were tortured.
Romanenko said the Lankans tried to walk to Kharkiv when they found a hotel on their way. She said the security guard took them in, looked after them, and called the police.
Last week, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a video address said seven Sri Lankans who had been held by Russian forces since March in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine were rescued.
Ukraine President Zelenskyy said Sri Lankans were captured by Russian soldiers in March and were kept in a basement.
He said only now, after the liberation of the Kharkiv region, Sri Lankans were rescued and they have been provided with proper medical care.
President Zelenskyy said, “In the Kharkiv region, investigative actions are continuing in the areas that were liberated from Russian occupation. All crimes of Ruscists are being recorded, and evidence of their guilt is being collected. Torture chambers where civilians of occupied cities and towns were bullied and premises where people, even foreigners, were kept have been found.”
Deputy Interior Minister of Ukraine Yevhen Yenin on Thursday announced that citizens of an Asian country, being peaceful foreign students, tried to leave for territory controlled by the Ukrainian government but were stopped by Russian military personnel, illegally detained, and tortured.
