MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/. Protesters have broken into Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s residence, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on Saturday citing local TV.

Head of the state managed to leave the residence minutes before demonstrators got to its territory, a defense ministry source said. Rajapaksa is still considered the country’s president and he is currently protected by the military, the same source told the agency.

Since early April, Sri Lanka has been hit by protests against the deteriorating living conditions, the lack of fuel, food and essentials. Sri Lanka is experiencing its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. It resulted from a contraction of foreign tourism due to the pandemic, which led to the shortage of foreign currency reserves in the country. In this environment the authorities were forced to cut imports and introduce tight resource saving. The country’s external debt, which totals $51 bln, hinders Sri Lanka from making external borrowings and struggling against the economic crisis.