Kyiv/ Coimbatore: On Monday, a family in the state of Tamil Nadu was shocked to know that their elder son is a part of the Ukrainian Army and is fighting for the country against Russia. Amid the ongoing conflict between the two countries, the intelligence reports submitted to the Centre and State revealed that a 21-year-old boy from Tamil Nadu had joined the Army of Ukraine after he couldn’t make it to the Indian Army due to his short height.
The student, Sainikhesh Ravichandran is an aerospace engineering student and a resident of Subramaniyampalayam in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The intelligence officers visited his house two days ago to meet his parents to know the probable reason behind their son joining the Army in Ukraine.
The family members of Sainikhsesh said that they were themselves shocked to know that their son had taken up the arms for Ukraine. Sainikhesh had earlier tried to join the Indian Army twice but was rejected both times due to his short height. He had also approached the US embassy in Chennai to know whether he could be a part of the American Army. When he got to know he could not join the US Army either, he took up a professional course at National Aerospace University in Kharkiv in the year 2018. He later informed his family to have attained a part-time job in a video gaming development company.
His family friend said that his family all the time kept on thinking that their son was having a normal life all these years, pursuing professional studies but were worried when they came to know about a media report that revealed that a boy from Tamil Nadu had joined the Ukrainian forces.
Sainikhesh had recently visited India in 2021 and had stayed for about a month and a half. He would also stay in touch with the relatives and his family friends through phone calls but went out of reach for almost four days after the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out. The intelligence officers in the report mentioned that they found portraits of soldiers all over his room.
Sainikhesh had always wanted to join the Army and be a soldier. He, after completing his 12th made several attempts to join the Indian Army but couldn’t make it. After he went to Ukraine, his family had tried to convince him to come back to India and do something else here, but he refused. The family recently sent an email to the Indian Embassy in Ukraine to know about Sainikhesh. The Embassy connected them both where the Sainikhesh expressed his desire to continue to be a part of the paramilitary force.
Sainikhesh is currently a part of the Georgian National Legion paramilitary unit comprising of volunteers. The family now plans to seek help from the officials in the state and Centre to get their son back.