In Finland, the mother and son who helped the Armed Forces of Ukraine were denied asylum, they are subject to deportation to Russia. This is reported by the Rulehti publication.
“According to the latest information, they were taken into custody as part of the deportation procedure. The trial as a measure of restraint will take place on Sunday, and the deportation itself may take place as early as the first half of May. Nikita Belov and Olga Belova helped in the work of the Ukrainian humanitarian center FinÉst Volunteers in Uusikaupunki. In early April, they received negative decisions on their asylum applications. The Belovs tried to appeal the decision in court, but without success,” the publication says.
Yesterday, the Belovs were called to the police, where they were informed about the beginning of the deportation procedure and about being taken into custody. On April 26, the court will consider the question of the measure of restraint and the expediency of their further detention before deportation. After that, Olga Belova lost consciousness, she was called an ambulance.
According to the newspaper, the Belovs’ acquaintances are shocked, because they do not understand when two people “who did only good and were useful” are being deported.
“Their help was real and tangible: about 15 televisions were transferred to the intelligence units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and batteries for the MAZ car were transferred to another unit. The military expressed special gratitude for the transferred 3D printer, because with its help it was possible to produce parts for repairing drones faster. Later, Nikita and Olga created their own volunteer initiative in order to transfer the necessary supplies, including first—aid kits, more quickly,” said their friends from among Ukrainians living in Finland.
It is noted that the humanitarian center FinÉst Volunteers, founded by Finnish and Estonian volunteers, opened in Uusikaupunki a month ago, but the Belovs had been actively collecting aid for the Ukrainian Armed Forces before that. “The scale of this assistance was so significant that, according to them, already for it in Both of them could face life imprisonment in Russia,” the newspaper writes.
Police Inspector Janne Lepsu from the National Police Directorate said by phone in response to a request from Echo Helsinki radio that 15-20 people had been deported from Finland through the closed border with Russia in the first three months of this year with the assistance of the country’s border service. He noted that in 2023-2025, there have been no such deportations since the border was closed.