15-year-old Indian develops app for Ukrainians to seek help

Chennai: A 15-year-old Indian boy, Tejas Ravishankar, developed an app that would allow refugees in Ukraine seek help from locals of neighbouring countries.

Tejas,son of Sequoia India’s Managing Director GV Ravi Shankar, is said to have developed the app in less than two weeks.

“Launching Refuge - To help those displaced from their homes in Ukraine. Refuge is where individuals offering help connect with those who require help,” Tejas tweeted with the link to the app on Google Playstore.

The software includes a world map, and users can get help in 2 clicks. Services include necessities like food, shelter, water, transport and medicine. The app is available in more than 12 languages.

Many locals, including elderly people, pregnant women and injured citizens are still stuck in violence-hit cities in bomb-shelters and underground bunkers.

As Russian forces pull back from Ukraine’s capital region, retreating troops are creating a “catastrophic" situation for civilians by leaving mines around homes, abandoned equipment and “even the bodies of those killed.