Sainikhesh, who joined Ukraine willing to return home, says his father

Sainikhesh had joined a paramilitary force in war-torn Ukraine is willing to return to his hometown in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu soon, his father said on Saturday. 

A youth from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, who had enlisted with the Ukrainian Army, to fight the Russian forces in the ongoing war between the two countries wants to return to India, his father said on Saturday.

Sainikhesh had joined a paramilitary force in war-torn Ukraine is willing to return to his hometown in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu soon, his father said on Saturday. “Central government officials are in touch with us. They have promised us that they would trace our son and evacuate him soon," his father Ravichandran, 52, told reporters over the phone. 

Sainikhesh, who was studying final year aerospace engineering at the National Aerospace University in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, joined the Georgian National Legion (a paramilitary unit of volunteers) in February.

As per reports, Sainikesh, who was studying in Ukraine at the time of war, had a desire to join the Indian Army but was rejected on several occasions during the recruitment due to lack of appropriate height. With the war breaking out and the Ukrainian government asking citizens to join the Army, Sainikesh's wish came true, albeit in a foreign country.

The matter came to the fore when Centre and state intelligence officials went to his residence in Coimbatore for a verification.

It seems that the youth has had enough of the passion for the Army as he wants to return to India now amid an intensifying Russian invasion of the country, Sainikesh's father Ravichandran was quoted as saying by ETV Bharat today.

"I contacted Sainikesh recently. He has expressed his desire to return to India," Ravichandran said.

Earlier, Sainikesh had told his parents that his desire to serve in the army had been fulfilled.