The plight and hope of Ukrainian and Russian refugees in Serbia

Since the war began in Ukraine two years ago, thousands of Ukrainian and Russian refugees have fled to Serbia. While some continued their journey toward Western Europe, others chose to stay in the Western Balkan country, seeking safety and stability away from the conflict.

Zhenya arrived just a few weeks after the war started from the Sakhalin Oblast in the east of Russia and settled in the university city of Novi Sad in the northwest of Serbia.

She is not proud of the war in Ukraine – in fact, quite the opposite. 

“When the war started, we felt very bad,” she says of her situation in February 2022. “We cried for several days. I felt like I was in a cage. 

“I may not feel guilty, but I feel responsible for my country killing people from a neighbouring country in my name.”

Because Russian citizens must obtain a visa to enter the EU, many who are keen to travel onward are prevented from doing so. This is a primary reason why most refugees who remain in Serbia come from Russia.

‘It’s nice in Serbia, but it’s nicer at home’

The Ukrainians still in Serbia, meanwhile, want to return to their country. Having fled the war, they long for their families and friends who stayed in Ukraine. 

Ivanna Korniik’s husband is currently living in Kyiv after fighting at the front for a year. She wants to reunite with him, but the war means she cannot yet return home.

“I haven’t seen my husband for two years,” she says. “I lived with my mother and my sister in the city of Kamianets-Podilskyi. It’s nice in Serbia, but it’s nicer at home.” 

Many Ukrainian women are in a similar situation, whose husbands are fighting at the front or cannot leave their homeland due to the war.

Many refugees from Ukraine continue their journey to the European Union to settle there until the end of the war. According to official figures, about 80,000 Ukrainian refugees have traveled through Serbia to the European Union so far.