Coimbatore youth joins Ukraine war; parents want Centre to bring him back

A 21-year-old youth hailing from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu has joined the fight for Ukraine as a volunteer against Russia, after his attempts to join the Indian Army failed, according to a Times of India report.

Distraught, the youth’s parents have appealed to the Centre to trace and bring him back to India.

Sainikhesh Ravichandran, a resident of Subramaniyampalayam near Thudiyalur in Coimbatore, had gone to Ukraine to pursue a course in aerospace engineering. However, when the war broke out, he joined the Georgian National Legion paramilitary unit comprising volunteers.

Since he went incommunicado after the war started, Sainikhesh’s family initially thought he would return back but later got to know through media that he had joined the fight.

They then emailed the Indian embassy in Ukraine which sought his details after a couple of days.

Sainikhesh, however, contacted his family a few days later and told them that he was safe and wished to continue in the fight. Despite several attempts, he did not agree to return home.

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Intelligence officials also conducted an inquiry about Sainikhesh and met his parents in Coimbatore.

Sainikhesh, after completing his class 12, tried to join the Army but was rejected apparently because of his height. Sanikesh also sought to know from the US Consulate in Chennai whether he would be taken into the American army, but here too he was met with rejection, according to the TOI report.

It is then that he joined the National Aerospace University in Kharkiv in September 2018.

Sainikesh’s family told the police that he was a normal youth and was keen on pursuing his five-year course which ends in July. He had last visited India last July and stayed for about one-and-a-half months.

Sainikesh has a younger brother Sairohit (17), mother Jhansi Lakshmi (48) and father Ravichandran (52), who are distraught and are planning to meet state and Central officials to bring him back.