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Stranded Ukrainians and Russians find haven in Sri Lanka
Hanna and Kyryl (left) with their first host Monica, her husband and Nastia and Vadim
When Ukrainian film maker Andrii Morozov (36) arrived in Sri Lanka on February 16 for a family holiday, tensions between his country and Russia were already high. There was a heavy build up of Russian troops and military equipment along the border with Ukraine. Yet, many expected that there will still be a last minute diplomatic solution. “We didn’t expect war to break out,” he told the Sunday Times. On February 24 however, just eight days after they arrived in the country, Russia invaded Ukraine.
As Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, which is also his hometown, came under Russian attack this week, Andrii, his wife Tetyana (37) and their five-year-old son Lan were in Hiriketiya in the south. They had rented a villa but rather than enjoying their planned holiday, they have been forced to watch on in horror as the invasion unfolds live on television. “Our relatives, friends, our flat; everything is there and the situation is very bad, with Russian bombs and rockets falling every day,” he lamented.
Sameera Chathuranga
Andrii and his wife now face a dilemma. Even if getting to Ukraine was somehow possible, they can’t take a five-year-old child into the middle of a war. They are currently weighing whether to stay on in Sri Lanka longer than the one month they had initially planned on, or fly to Europe. “We have some money left since we came here on a planned holiday but that will run out soon. Next week, we will have to make a decision.”
At the end of February, there were 11, 463 Russian and 3993 Ukrainian tourists in the country. Russia is currently Sri Lanka’s primary tourist market with the most number of tourist arrivals while Ukraine is also a top tourist earner. Ukrainian airspace is closed for civilian aircraft while the European Union has banned Russian planes from its airspace. Meanwhile, financial sanctions on Russia has also made it difficult for some Russians overseas to withdraw money. Consequently, most Ukrainians and even some Russians in Sri Lanka have found themselves stranded.
Cabinet decided this week to extend the visas of Ukrainian and Russian nationals in Sri Lanka by a further two months without charge, giving some relief to thousands of stranded tourists such as the Morozov family.
Meanwhile, ordinary Sri Lankans have stepped into help. In the days following the invasion, many posts have appeared on social media of people offering their small hotels, guest houses or even individual rooms to stranded Ukrainian and Russian tourists. Even a Facebook group has been set up for Ukrainians stranded in Sri Lanka, where posts offering free accommodation are shared and stranded tourists can find help.
Hanna Terletska (29) and Kyryl Terletskiy (30) were in Sri Lanka to celebrate their eighth wedding anniversary. They had left Ukraine on February 21, a day after Kyryl turned 30. “For two days we were in paradise, having the most wonderful time,” Hanna said. On the third day, she was surfing the web at around 9 a.m. when she saw the first reports of explosions. She immediately called up her mother in Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine. “There’s a three-and-half hour time difference between Sri Lanka and Ukraine and my mother was not happy to be woken up so early in the morning. She did not know that war had broken out until I told her.”
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Hanna, who works in event marketing, has been working in Kyiv for 10 years. She and Kyryl were only planning to stay in Sri Lanka for a week due to their busy schedules. But the invasion threw their plans into chaos.
“We had come as part of a tour package and were booked into a hotel in Unawatuna, which we had to vacate on February 28. We were at a loss what to do,” she said. By this time, various online forums and groups had already sprung up on social media and messaging apps offering assistance to stranded Ukrainians. Through one of these channels, Hanna got in touch with Sameera Chathuranga from Moragalla, Beruwala. Sameera earns a living by directing tourists to homestays in the area. He promptly directed the couple to a villa run by Monica, a British woman and her Sri Lankan husband. They were offering it for free for stranded Ukrainian tourists. Soon, Nastia and Vadim, another stranded Ukrainian couple from Kyiv joined them.
The two couples have now moved to another homestay where the local owners are again accommodating them for free. “At both places, they always checked up on us and even offered their food for free. We however, have some money left so we are getting some of our own food. But we don’t know how much we will need to get to Europe because we can’t go directly to Ukraine now, so we try to save whenever we can. The generosity of the Sri Lankan people has been wonderful. Coming here was the best decision we made because everyone has been so supportive and amazing.”
Meanwhile, the situation back home remains grim. Hanna has family in Kyiv and Kharkiv, which are both under attack. Most of the population is using underground metro stations or the basements of their own homes and apartment blocks as bomb shelters. Hanna’s mother is spending much of the time inside the basement of her home while her mother-in-law is also in the basement of her apartment block. They have so far refused to leave their homes. “For many older people in Ukraine, their home is everything to them,” she remarked. As such, the couple’s daily routine now involves calling up their families twice in the morning and twice in the evening to check on them.
Hanna does not feel any animosity towards Russians. “Despite the fact Russia is the aggressor, this is also a horrible situation for Russians to be in. We have spoken to Russian tourists here and they also understand how they are victims of (Russian President) Putin’s war. Some of them can’t travel and Sri Lankans are helping them too.”
Away from the war: Ukranians and Rusiians share a meal together at a homestay in Bentota
Sameera Chathuranga (29), who helped Hanna, said he saw the distressing situation faced by Ukrainians as soon as the invasion occurred. “Many didn’t want to go back to Ukraine but they had no money to stay. We had earned money by renting out our houses to them but there was no way we could do that in this situation. We managed to coordinate with some others to find free accommodation around Beruwala for those who were stranded and so far, we have accommodated around 30 of them for free at various places,” he said.
The war immediately made things difficult for Ukrainians and Russians, said Sanjeeva Kumara (46), who runs a small homestay called “Sanjee Home” in Benthara. “There is one Russian woman staying with us who only had Rs 5000 with her and was finding it difficult to withdraw money. She could not pay me either but I told her payment was not necessary and she could stay here. We will look after them as best as we can.”
Russian tourist Nataliya, who was one of those staying at Sanjeeva’s homestay, said she was grateful for the assistance given by the Sri Lankan people. For now, she has been able to withdraw some money at intervals. Given that visas for Russian nationals too have been extended by two months, she said she intends to take a little time and see about finalising a flight via Dubai to Moscow.
The Morozov family enjoying their stay here before war broke out in Ukraine
Sanjeeva has both Russian and Ukrainians staying at his homestay for free. Despite reports that police have been put on alert to be on the lookout for any confrontations between tourists from the two countries, he said there has been no issues between them. “They all get along fine. They talk, eat and drink together. No one talks politics.”
The war could not have come at a worse time for Sri Lanka’s tourism industry that was only just starting to get back on its feet after a disastrous three years; with the Easter Sunday attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic severely denting the island’s tourism earnings. “It was thanks to these tourists that we were finally raising our heads after three years. How can we not help them in the name of humanity?” said T.M.D. De Silva (36), describing his decision to offer all five of his villas around Beruwala for free to stranded Ukrainian and Russian tourists.
Mr De Silva is determined to look after his guests “like family” for as long as he can. “Of course, things are hard for us too, but it is something we must do. After all, whatever skin colour we may have, in the end our blood is red,” he added.
Additional Reporting by Thusitha Kumara De Silva
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