According to local media reports, Sri Lanka has arrested two former army soldiers, including a major-general, for recruiting individuals to join the Russian military amid the conflict with Ukraine.
Authorities in the South Asian island nation uncovered a human trafficking racket that sent Sri Lankan war veterans to fight as mercenaries in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, as reported by the Newswire website.
The arrests were made by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of Sri Lanka, with the suspects, aged 67 and 50, apprehended.
The former army major general is believed to be the mastermind behind the racket. Both individuals are residents of Kurunegala, the capital of the North Western Province.
This development follows a similar case in neighboring India, where four arrests were made the day before.
Last month, the CID arrested two individuals, including another former army major general, for their alleged involvement in a similar human trafficking case.
Sri Lanka’s Defense Ministry confirmed that several Sinhalese war veterans had died or been injured in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war after being recruited as members of mercenary groups.
Similar cases have been reported in India and Nepal, with many Nepalese nationals also reported to have died in the conflict.
Since February 2022, Russia and Ukraine have been at war, resulting in tens of thousands of casualties and injuries.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced from Ukraine, with individuals from various countries joining rival armies in the conflict.
I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.
