by Our Correspondent in Colombo
A diplomatic dispute has erupted in Sri Lanka after the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Colombo and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands exchanged strong public statements over the World Press Photo Exhibition 2026 currently being held in the country. The controversy centers on photographs depicting Russia’s war in Ukraine, which Russia claims are biased, while the Dutch embassy accuses Moscow of attempting to censor press freedom.
The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands issued a media release on March 10 accusing the Russian embassy of trying to limit freedom of expression and the public’s right to information in Sri Lanka. According to the statement, the Russian ambassador visited the World Press Photo Exhibition in Colombo during the weekend of March 7 and 8 and demanded that photographs related to Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine be removed from the display. The Dutch embassy further alleged that the Russian side threatened to stage a protest if organizers refused to comply.
The exhibition, part of the globally recognized World Press Photo program, was officially opened on February 27 at One Galle Face in Colombo by Deputy Minister of Mass Media Dr. Kaushalya Ariyaratne and the Netherlands Ambassador Wiebe de Boer. The event is jointly organized by the Dutch embassy, the Sri Lanka Press Institute, and the World Press Photo Foundation based in the Netherlands. After its Colombo run, the exhibition is scheduled to continue in Kandy from March 13 to 17 at Sahas Uyana, with free public access.
In its statement, the Dutch embassy said that following the initial request at the exhibition, the Russian embassy also approached Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs seeking the removal of the same photographs from the Kandy display. The Dutch mission described such actions as attempts to compromise the public’s right to know and warned that it could also amount to interference in the host country’s sovereignty if a foreign embassy tries to determine what information citizens should be allowed to see. The Netherlands pledged that the exhibition in Kandy would proceed with its full content intact, emphasizing its commitment to press freedom and editorial independence.
Responding to the allegations, the Russian Embassy in Colombo issued a press release on March 11 strongly rejecting the accusations and criticizing the exhibition’s portrayal of events in Ukraine. Moscow argued that the materials presented in the exhibition are biased and anti-Russian in nature, claiming that the photographs deliberately ignore what it described as atrocities committed by Ukrainian forces and nationalist groups in the Donbass region between 2014 and 2022, as well as during a reported incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in 2024.
The Russian embassy said the exhibition represents what it called a one-sided narrative promoted by Western countries and described it as further evidence of Western hypocrisy. The statement also accused European powers of double standards, referring to what Russia described as the failure of France and Germany to uphold the Minsk agreements signed in 2015, which were intended to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
In unusually sharp language, the Russian statement also criticized the Dutch embassy for defending what it called a “puppet Nazi regime” in Kyiv. It went further to urge the Netherlands to reflect on its colonial history and consider returning historical treasures that it said had been taken from Sri Lanka during the colonial period.
The clash highlights how global geopolitical conflicts are increasingly spilling into cultural and media spaces around the world. The World Press Photo Exhibition, known for presenting powerful images from international photojournalism, is held annually in dozens of countries and is intended to showcase visual documentation of major global events.
Despite the diplomatic tension, organizers say the exhibition will continue as planned in Kandy with all photographs on display, including those depicting the war in Ukraine. The images featured in the exhibition are also publicly accessible through the World Press Photo Foundation’s website, ensuring that audiences worldwide can view the same content regardless of local disputes.
