The government yesterday said that diplomatic initiatives are currently underway to protect Sri Lankan youth enlisted in mercenary forces linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.  

“These issues have also been addressed with Russian security authorities,” Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali Sabry said addressing a press conference at the Presidential Media Centre (PMC) .  
Furthermore, diplomatic initiatives are currently in progress to retrieve Sri Lankans detained by smugglers in Myanmar, he said.  
The foreign minister’s statement comes, a day after the Sri Lanka Defence Ministry said that a significant number of war veterans had died and sustained injuries on the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield.  
“The Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are making great efforts to obtain factual information about the war veterans and casualties at the Russian-Ukrainian war front,” the defence ministry on Tuesday said. 
The Defence Secretary General (Rtd) Kamal Gunaratne also made a special request to war veterans not to be caught to such illegal schemes and put their lives at risk by joining foreign mercenary groups and also to think of the plight of their families before doing so.