Finland had planned to deport a Russian mother and son who helped Ukrainian refugees. Instead, it’s granting them asylum.

Finland has granted asylum to Russian nationals Olga and Nikita Belov after previously planning to deport them this spring, according to former St. Petersburg councilor Svetlana Utkina. The Belovs left Russia after Nikita refused to participate in an unnamed project at a metallurgy research institute that he later learned was tied to the war effort.

In Finland, the pair volunteered with Ukrainian refugees through FinEst Volunteers before being summoned to a police station this spring and told they faced deportation. A court ordered a review of their case in August after their lawyer submitted what was described as substantial new evidence of the persecution risk they would face back in Russia.

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