Indian Students Joins Ukraine Army to Fight in War
21-year old student from Tamil Nadu joins Ukraine armed forces to fight Russia.
21-year-old Sainikhesh Ravichandran is an aerospace engineering student and a resident of Subramaniyampalayam in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. He was desperate to join the army. The walls of his room were filled with photographs of soldiers. 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. But even they rejected him because only US citizens can join their army. When he got to know he could not join the US Army either, he took up a course at the 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. 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.
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. Now the Indian government officials found out that Sainikhesh has joined the Ukrainian Army to fight in the war against Russia. 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. The family now plans to seek help from the officials in Tamil Nadu and the Central Government to get their son back.
Under Indian laws, it is an offence for a citizen to participate in fighting in a foreign country. If He comes back to India, Sainikhesh may be jailed or fined. Surprisingly many people from around the world had requested the Ukrainian government to allow them to fight in the war. There were volunteers from the US, the UK, Sweden, Lithuania, Mexico, etc. On March 5, the Ukrainian government launched a dedicated website so people can register themselves. On the website, it explains how people can travel to Ukraine and the government says they prefer if people bring their own military equipment.
