Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Stranded Ukrainians find comfort in crisis-hit Sri Lanka

Stranded Ukrainians find comfort in crisis-hit Sri Lanka

AS THE sun dips below the Indian Ocean waves, Ukrainian tourist Viktoria Makarenko and her daughter light incense every evening at a temple in a Sri Lankan beach resort to pray for a return home.

Russia's February invasion of the 35-year-old's homeland has left thousands of foreign travellers from the two countries stranded on the tropical island.

But Ukrainians with empty wallets, distraught over the fate of loved ones back home, say they have been overwhelmed by the support from locals - despite their own travails in the face of a worsening financial crisis.

"I love Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan people," Makarenko said. "Everybody wants to help us."

She, her husband and their five-year-old daughter had been travelling around Sri Lanka for weeks when Russian forces invaded Ukraine.

They were running low on cash and despairing of their predicament before locals in the resort town of Unawatuna rallied around them, offering free accommodation, food and even incense sticks to light on their daily trips to the shrine.

"The owner of this hotel let us stay here as long as we need. We have food, water, we don't have a headache (over) what to eat tomorrow," Makarenko said.

"We stay safe here and they take care of us."

Lanka Ukraine 2 Tourists push a stroller along Galle Fort in Galle, Sri Lanka. (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images)



Along the white sands of Sri Lanka's southern coastline, dozens of tourist-oriented businesses are advertising offers or assistance for stranded Ukrainians.

Ahesh Shanaka, the manager of the Blackgold cafe in Mirissa, said he asked one Ukrainian customer carrying a baby whether she was returning home.

"She said, 'I cannot go back, my house was destroyed, where can I go?'"

A sign outside offers half-price meals upon presentation of a Ukrainian passport, and nearby guesthouses have given empty rooms to small cohorts of backpackers from the country.

Shanaka believes that his fellow Sri Lankans' generosity stems from still-fresh memories of the island's own experience of conflict - a decades-long civil war that ended in 2009.

"We also faced a situation like that before... We know the suffering, we know the pain," he said.

Sri Lanka's current hardships have been bad for business: long queues for petrol and electricity blackouts are threatening to upend operators and bring a budding post-pandemic tourism revival to an abrupt end.

"We are in a bad situation, you know. The crisis, our economy is going down, everything is bad," said Shanaka.

"But we are also people, they are also people, that's why we try to help."

Official figures show around 15,000 Russians and 5,000 Ukrainians visited Sri Lanka in the month the conflict began - making up the island's first and third-biggest tourism sources respectively.

Sri Lanka has granted free visa extensions for citizens of both countries.

Many Russian tourists are also stuck in the country, cut off from funds after US sanctions on international payment networks.

But no offers for them are being advertised, and they are reluctant to talk.

"We have to go meet friends," one young Russian man replied tersely before he and his companions turned to contemplate the ocean view at the historic Dutch Fort in Galle.

Public sentiment overwhelmingly backs Ukraine in the conflict - slogans condemning the war are daubed in the yellow and blue of the country's flag on walls up and down the coast.

"There is great compassion on their part, given that they are also in difficult circumstances," Darina Stambuliak, another Ukrainian whose stay in Unawatuna was involuntarily extended by the war, said.

The 33-year-old said she was previously forced to flee Donetsk when pro-Russian separatists declared a breakaway region in 2014.

She now spends much of her time anxiously keeping up with news from home.

But a generous discount on her accommodation has given her one less cause for worry.

"Business owners have wrapped us in love and support," she said. "We are so grateful."

(AFP)

More For You

Fathers over 60 help 'reverse UK birthrate decline'

Photo for representation (Photo: iStock)

Fathers over 60 help 'reverse UK birthrate decline'

THE UK has recorded its first increase in births since 2021, with a notable rise in babies born to fathers over 60 helping to lift the numbers, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

In 2024, there were 594,677 live births in England and Wales, up 0.6 per cent from the previous year. While this is a modest increase, it marks a change after several years of decline.

Keep ReadingShow less
Quad-leaders

The foreign ministers of the Quad — India, the US, Australia and Japan — met in Washington DC on Tuesday to outline priorities for the bloc’s annual summit to be held in India later this year. (Photo credit: X/@DrSJaishankar)

X/@DrSJaishankar

Quad condemns Pahalgam attack, flags China’s actions and Myanmar crisis

THE QUAD grouping has called for the perpetrators, organisers and financiers of the Pahalgam terror attack to be brought to justice without delay. The group also urged all UN member states to cooperate in the process.

The foreign ministers of the Quad — India, the US, Australia and Japan — met in Washington DC on Tuesday to outline priorities for the bloc’s annual summit to be held in India later this year.

Keep ReadingShow less
'Preventable' grid failure caused Heathrow fire, says report

FILE PHOTO: Airplanes remain parked on the tarmac at Heathrow International. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso

'Preventable' grid failure caused Heathrow fire, says report

A FIRE that shut London's Heathrow airport in March, stranding thousands of people, was caused by the UK power grid's failure to maintain an electricity substation, an official report said on Wednesday (2), prompting the energy watchdog to open a probe.

The closure of Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, cost airlines tens of millions of pounds. It also raised questions about the resilience of Britain's infrastructure.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tributes paid to Asian mum who died in Leicester attack

Leicestershire Police

Tributes paid to Asian mum who died in Leicester attack

TRIBUTES have poured in for a 'kind-hearted' mother who tragically lost her life last week after being attacked in Leicester.

Nila Patel, 56, a British Indian woman described as a "beautiful, vibrant soul," died in hospital two days after suffering a head injury during an assault on Aylestone Road.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pakistan IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington. (Photo: Reuters)

Reuters

Sri Lanka to receive USD 350 million as IMF completes fourth review

THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF) has completed the fourth review of Sri Lanka’s USD 2.9 billion bailout programme, allowing the country to access the next tranche of USD 350 million from the four-year facility.

The IMF had approved the nearly USD 3 billion bailout in March 2023 to support Sri Lanka’s efforts to restore macroeconomic stability, including fiscal and debt sustainability, during an unprecedented economic crisis.

Keep ReadingShow less