More than 70,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Lithuania since the full-scale Russian invasion. However, around 14,000 Ukrainians lived in Lithuania even before the war broke out. Those who have been living here for years do not call themselves refugees but see a big difference in attitudes to them and their recently arrived compatriots. 

Marina Vaitkienė has been living in Lithuania for more than 10 years. After meeting her future husband while studying in Kyiv, she decided to leave Ukraine and move to his hometown Kaunas.

“I was only 19 years old, but love was stronger. [...] We got married and moved to Kaunas,” says Marina.

If it wasn’t for love, she would have never moved to another country because all her family and friends lived in Ukraine, she says. In Lithuania, meanwhile, she had to start from scratch.

“I didn't think about it at first – I had no idea what I would do, where I would work, how I would integrate. It was only important for me to have my husband near me,” Marina says.

“But as it turned out, my diploma from the prestigious Kyiv University proved useless. I didn’t speak Lithuanian, so I couldn’t get a job, and it’s better not even talk about the culture shock and homesickness,” she adds.

According to the Ukrainian woman, the state had no interest in helping her integrate at the time: “The first four years were very difficult. I would say Kaunas is a quite nationalistic city and often people refused to talk to me if I didn’t speak Lithuanian.”

In her words, it was almost impossible to get a job at that time, and there were also no free Lithuanian language courses. She often thought about leaving Lithuania because she could not imagine herself integrating here successfully.

“When I see today the benefits offered to Ukrainian refugees who arrived after the outbreak of the large-scale invasion, I feel a little sad. Everything is provided for them. You don’t speak Lithuanian? No problem, you can work for a year without it. You don’t have money to learn the language? There are many free courses available,” she explains.

When she first arrived in Lithuania, Marina had to take private language lessons and worked as a cleaner at a shopping centre in Kaunas. The woman says that even going to the doctor, where she had to explain that she didn’t understand Lithuanian, was a challenge for her.

Today, Marina speaks fluent Lithuanian, works in the service sector, has two children, and remembers her first years in Lithuania as an unavoidable experience. She adds, however, that if Lithuanians at that time had treated Ukrainians the way they do today, it would have made her life easier.

“I understand that nobody invited me here, that I am one of the so-called ‘newcomers’, but the attitude towards Ukrainians then and now is as different as day and night,” Marina says.

Refugees and migrants

Anastasia Kysenko has been living in Vilnius for five years now. She says bluntly that Ukrainians in Lithuania are divided into refugees and migrants. She encountered this distinction when dealing with paperwork at the Migration Department.

“When the war broke out, I had a temporary residence permit for work purposes. But because of the war, the company started downsizing and I was made redundant. My residence permit automatically expired because it was linked to a specific employer,” Anastasia explains.

“It turned out that I could not return home and I could not receive any benefits or assistance, as I was living in Lithuania until February 24, 2022,” she adds.

Anastasia could not apply for a residence permit on humanitarian grounds. Her old residence permit was not revoked because she could not return to her home country, but the Migration Department told the woman to look for a job.

Anastasia is open that her financial situation was difficult at the time, but she did not receive any help from the state.

“It’s a paradox. I’m Ukrainian, and my hometown Mariupol was wiped off the face of the earth. I have nowhere to go back to, but I’m not welcome in Lithuania either because everyone is busy helping real war refugees,” she shares.

At the time, she says she could have benefited from free public transport or free accommodation which was offered to Ukrainian refugees.

Anastasia sympathises with her compatriots who experienced the real horrors of the war. But she says integration and support for Ukrainians who have been living in Lithuania for a long time is overlooked.

“God forbid going through what the Ukrainians talking about. But the division between those who arrived after February 24 and those who arrived before is so obvious and unpleasant that for me integration is out of the question,” the woman shares.

No jealousy

Ukrainians who have been living in Lithuania for a long time note that before, integration was not even an option, but it has become much easier after the large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“Maybe it’s wrong to say this, but in a way, the war helped me integrate into Lithuania. I managed to find a job, even though I had been working in a factory for a few years before that,” says Alina who has been living in Lithuania for four years. “I hear more Ukrainian, I have made more Ukrainian friends, and there are a lot of events, seminars, and concerts for Ukrainians. We didn't even have a Ukrainian centre before.”

According to her, however, there is no need to be envious of the Ukrainians who came to Lithuania after the outbreak of the war.

“We came here voluntarily. Yes, we worked very hard to integrate into Lithuanian society, but it was our choice. For other Ukrainians, it was the only chance for a normal life. So, jealousy in this case is simply incomprehensible,” Alina says.

However, she finds it hard to believe when Ukrainian refugees say that they want to stay in Lithuania even after the end of the war.

“It is not only Ukrainians who have problems, but also Belarusians and other migrants from third countries. No one is welcome here, no matter how rude it sounds. You are only welcome at home, and this is not home,” Alina explains.

“I don’t want to upset [the Ukrainian refugees], but they haven’t yet experienced real life here. [...] Because even if you have a residence permit in Lithuania, you will never be a full-fledged resident. You have to accept that you will always be a migrant, even if you have integrated morally and culturally,” she adds.