‘Waiting for a call from Daddy’: Sri Lankans die in Ukraine for both sides

At least two Sri Lankans have been killed fighting for Russia in Ukraine, and three on the Ukrainian side. But many more are willing to join the war amid desperate economic conditions at home.

Colombo, Sri Lanka – Badly wounded from a Ukrainian attack on a Russian bunker in the Donetsk region, Sri Lankan fighter Senaka Bandara* tried to carry his fellow countryman, Nipuna Silva*, to safety.

Senaka*, 36, was bleeding from his legs and hands. Nipuna’s condition was worse – he had sustained injuries to his chest, hands and legs, according to Senaka.

As the two Sri Lankans retreated under fire, another wave of Ukrainian drones struck their bunker in the occupied Donetsk region where the two served with the Russian military.

“While I was carrying [Nipuna], there was another huge drone attack at the last bunker and Nipuna fell to the ground,” Senaka said earlier this month while being treated for his injuries in a hospital in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

Senaka said he had no option but to leave Nipuna behind as the Ukrainian drones rained down death.

“We didn’t know that it would be this dangerous,” Senaka told Al Jazeera, in a series of voice messages sent over WhatsApp. “In Donetsk, we were told to go to ‘bunker duty’,” he said.

“But we weren’t aware that there was an attack under way,” he added, recounting how the pair from Sri Lanka had joined a Russian “auxiliary force” and received two “training courses” before being sent to the front line.

Nipuna – whose body was later identified by other Sri Lankans fighting with Russian forces – was the second recruit from the tropical South Asian island to die in recent months fighting for Russia in the bleak Dontesk battlefield, according to Senaka.

The two reported deaths add to