Lidiia, 87, fled the war in Ukraine to her daughter in Sweden. Last autumn, the Swedish Migration Agency decided to deport her – to Russia. Now the decision is overturned because of her connection to the Ukrainian army.
– I am old and will die soon anyway. Now I get to spend that time with the family, says Lidiia to Aftonbladet.
Lidiia Prokhrenko is a Russian citizen but moved from Russia to Ukraine in 2010 when her husband died. There she received a permanent residence permit. When war broke out in 2022, Lidiia was forced to flee Kiev. The goal was Sweden and Rättvik, where her Swedish-Ukrainian daughter Zhanna lives with her husband.
Since then, the daughter and son-in-law have taken care of 87-year-old Lidiia, but last autumn the Swedish Migration Agency decided to deport her – to Russia – a country where Lidiia has no relatives or residence.
– I had nowhere to go and they wanted to deport me. Where would I go? says Lidiia to Aftonbladet.
“Still going to die soon”
While Ukrainian citizens fleeing the war can get a temporary residence permit in Sweden, this does not apply to Russian citizens living in Ukraine.
The family appealed the decision to the Migration Court and this week the happy news came – Lidiia can stay in Sweden.
– Of course I was happy when the news came. I am old and yet will die soon. Now I get to stay with my daughter, says Lidiia.
“Has relatives in the Ukrainian army – notorious fact”
Lidiia has been granted a residence permit for thirteen months due to her “need for protection to be assessed based on the conditions in Russia due to relatives in the Ukrainian army”.
In the original deportation decision, the Swedish Migration Agency wrote that there is no threat to Lidiia in Russia, but the Migration Court has therefore made a different assessment. They write in their decision that “it is in the nature of things that people in Russia with connections to the Ukrainian army risk persecution. This is considered a notorious fact”.
In addition, the court considers that there are aggravating circumstances such as the fact that Lidiia suffers from poor memory, low blood pressure and weight loss.
For Zhanna and the family, the new news came as a relief.
– When the lawyer called, I had a panic attack and thought we had been rejected. But that was not the case. For a whole year and a month we don’t have to think about anything, says daughter Zhanna Mikolayenko, 58.
Has become a local celebrity
Since Lidiia’s case has been noticed in the national and local media, she has become a local celebrity. Residents of Rättvik recognize Lidiia on the streets and always wonder how she is doing. After the family received the happy news, many have also congratulated her.
– We live in a small town and my husband has already gossiped, says Zhanna and starts to laugh.