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Kiev’s claims of Russia’s detention of Sri Lankan citizens ‘fake news’ — Foreign Ministry

Maria Zakharova underscored that Vladimir Zelensky’s claims were debunked by Sri Lankan media

MOSCOW, October 11. /TASS/. Kiev’s accusations that Russia allegedly held seven citizens of Sri Lanka hostage are fake news and a provocation, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Tuesday.

According to the diplomat, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky accused the Russian side in September of forcefully holding seven Sri Lankan students of the Kupyansk medical college hostage. The spokeswoman underscored that this information is not backed by any facts.

"I would like to also note that foreign citizens, detained in the special military operation area under suspicion of collaboration with the Kiev regime, are being promptly transported to home front areas, where corresponding relevant agencies work with them," she noted. "And Zelensky’s claims of prolonged detention of captives in a settlement, located near the contact line contradict the common sense. It is totally obvious that we are dealing with yet another piece of fake news, a provocation, in which seven disoriented foreigners were cynically used by the Kiev regime for propaganda."

The spokeswoman underscored that Zelensky’s claims were debunked by Sri Lankan media, which reported on September 20 citing the Ministry of Foreign Ministry of Sri Lanka that all seven subjects of this case are not students, but illegal migrants, who only used Ukraine as a transit point on their way to Europe.

"They could indeed hide in Kupyansk after arriving in Ukraine in January this year. By the way, they say had poor knowledge of the country’s geography and barely realized their location. But it’s more likely that they have been staying on territory under Kiev’s control since February 24, and therefore were unnoticed by Russian servicemen," Zakharova noted.

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