Sri Lankan soldier killed in Russian artillery attack

On Wednesday, the body of Captain Ranish Hewage, a former Sri Lankan Army officer fighting alongside Ukrainian forces, was recovered after he was killed in a Russian artillery attack on Ukraine. 

Hewage had joined the Ukrainian Foreign Legion as a volunteer and was serving as a Commanding Officer of its First Special Force.

According to official sources from the International Legion for the Defence of Ukraine, Hewage's body was retrieved by L.K. Hathurusinghe, another former Sri Lankan army officer who served as Hewage's second in command during the battle against Russian forces. However, the remains of two other Sri Lankan mercenaries, M.M. Priyantha and Rodney Jayasinghe, who also lost their lives in the attack, are yet to be recovered.

The Ukrainian government is making preparations to perform the final rites of Captain Hewage with full military honors. President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had promoted Hewage to the rank of Commanding Officer of the First Special Force due to his exceptional performance on the battlefield.

The Ukrainian Foreign Legion, established in February 2022 by the Ukrainian government in response to the Russian invasion, is a foreign military unit within the Ground Forces of Ukraine. It was formed at the request of President Zelenskyy and has attracted volunteers from different countries, including Sri Lanka, who have joined the fight against Russian aggression in Ukraine.