On July 9-10, the public protests in the capital of Sri Lanka over the serious aggravation of the socioeconomic situation in the country gave way to unrest and the seizure of the residences of the country’s top officials. In all, about 100 people were injured during the protests. According to the Russian Embassy in Colombo, there were no Russians among the victims.

Notably, the day before the unrest began, some Western diplomat mission heads openly urged the local police not to obstruct “peaceful protests.”

According to reports, the country’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has resigned to meet the protesters’ demands. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has announced his decision to step down within the next few days.

We believe that the developments in Sri Lanka are its internal affair and the political process in that country, which we regard as friendly, will develop further in keeping with its constitution and effective laws. We expect a new government to be formed and are ready to cooperate with it. We believe the situation will return to normal before long and that the new Sri Lankan authorities will take the necessary measures to ride out the crisis in the national economy. 

We recommend that Russian nationals in Sri Lanka exercise caution and stay away from public spaces with large gatherings of people.