Between learning a notoriously difficult local language, studying for a professional certification in economics and volunteering to help Ukrainian refugees, Nikita Belov might seem like the exact kind of Russian asylum seeker who would be welcomed in Europe.
But that didn’t stop authorities in Finland from nearly deporting him and his mother, Olga, last month. After being denied asylum and told that they faced little risk back home, the pair were “on the brink of deportation,” Belov, 25, said, before a court stepped in and ordered their case to be reconsidered.
Hundreds of Russians have landed in a similar situation in recent years. After fleeing to Europe to escape state repression, many of them manage to find a legal path to permanent residency — but others face a harsh reality when their asylum applications are rejected at their host country’s discretion.
In 2025, the EU reported that more than 10,000 Russians were ordered to leave the bloc’s member states. Advocates argue that high-profile cases like the Belovs’ show that some of the most vulnerable among them are slipping through the cracks.
Nikita Belov and his mother Olga.
