^{Defence Attaché of the Sri Lanka Embassy in Moscow visiting a weapons manufacturer in 2019.}

The Russian Embassy in Sri Lanka leapt to defence of Colombo last week, expressing its “perplexity” at the apparent pressure place don Sri Lanka by Western governments over its human rights record.

Issuing a statement on May 20, just two days after Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day, the embassy claimed “numerous Western political figures, diplomats, and foreign quasi-human rights organizations have come up with their critical statements and abundant observations”.

“The Embassy as the official representative of the Russian Federation would like once again to express its perplexity by the way those “ambassadors of justice” see things,” the statement continued.

“Why are they reticent about the Gaza situation? Why don't they provide their assessment of the humanitarian damage NATO caused to Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya, and other regions to which the Alliance aims to export its freedom of democracy?”

Press release of the Russian Embassy regarding third-party assessments of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka pic.twitter.com/B1EzQOq5br

— Russian Embassy in Sri Lanka (@RusEmbSriLanka) May 20, 2024

The Russian embassy has been a long-time ally of Sri Lanka, supplying the country with arms and ammunition during the armed conflict. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov during a visit to Colombo in 2020 said that his country was “ready to  continue to provide the Sri Lankan forces with all the weapons they need for security.” 

The Sri Lankan Army was equipped with Russian-made infantry weapons and the Sri Lanka Air Force used Russian-built aircraft. The armed conflict saw the death of tens of thousands of Tamils who were shot and shelled while they fled to safe zones, which themselves were continuously bombed by the Sri Lankan security forces.

“Those Russian aircraft changed the dynamics in the battlefield and paved the way to bring peace to the country in 2009,” according to the Sri Lanka mission in Russia.