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Stranded Ukrainians find comfort in crisis-hit Sri Lanka
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In this picture taken on March 26, 2022, the Blackgold cafe manager Ahesh Shanaka (C) speaks with a tourist in Mirissa. (AFP/Ishara S. Kodikara)
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s the sun dips below the Indian Ocean waves, Ukrainian tourist Viktoria Makarenko and her daughter light incense every evening at a temple in a Sri Lankan beach resort to pray for a return home.
Russia's February invasion of the 35-year-old's homeland has left thousands of foreign travellers from the two countries stranded on the tropical island.
But Ukrainians with empty wallets, distraught over the fate of loved ones back home, say they have been overwhelmed by support from locals -- despite their own travails in the face of a worsening financial crisis.
"I love Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan people," Makarenko told AFP. "Everybody wants to help us."
She, her husband and their five-year-old daughter had been travelling around Sri Lanka for weeks when Russian forces invaded Ukraine.
They were running low on cash and despairing of their predicament before locals in the resort town of Unawatuna rallied around them, offering free accommodation, food and even incense sticks to light on their daily trips to the shrine.
"The owner of this hotel let us stay here as long as we need. We have food, water, we don't have a headache (over) what to eat tomorrow," Makarenko said.
