The Russian refugee who has found safety in Darlington

THREE years have passed since our last meeting, and Ramazan Paizov is enjoying the peace as he sits among the crocuses in the sun-kissed churchyard of Darlington’s imposing parish church.

“Let’s be honest, Putin has won – he’s been handed victory,” he says, sombrely, as he reflects on the latest developments surrounding the war in Ukraine.

Under the Trump administration, America has very clearly taken Russia’s side: branding Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as a dictator, despite Vladimir Putin trampling over international law. President Trump has now suspended military aid to UKraine.

It’s a source of shame for Ramazan, a lawyer from St Petersburg, who fled to England, landing at Luton Airport on October 13, 2019, after being targeted by the Russian police.

His ‘crime’ had been to join the opposition party, Yabloko, take part in peaceful mass protests, and campaign for fairer elections as part of the St Petersburg Election Commission.

Arrested several times, and once spending hours in a prison cell, he was given a sinister warning to stop protesting or face the possibility that his passport might be found to be “fake” and result in him being locked up for “a long time”.

When the police raided his parents’ house at six o’clock one morning, looking for him and confiscating a raft of personal documents, his father told him to get out of the country as quickly as possible.

After claiming asylum in England, Ramazan was taken to a detention centre, then transported to Leeds five days later, before being brought to Darlington in January 2020.

Ramazan Paizov shortly after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 (Image: Peter Barron) When Russian forces invaded Ukraine two years later, he was quick to put himself forward to speak out.

“I want everyone to know that war isn’t what Russian people want – this is not in our name,” was his message when we first met three years ago this week.

“Darlington people have been kind to me and I want them to know that Putin does not represent Russians. We are sad and angry too,” he added.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost, the war rages on, and there’s now a quiet sense of resignation from Ramazan that President Trump has given Putin “a way out”.

“Trump’s just a businessman with no principles, and no feelings about people or justice,” he says, in the shadow cast by St Cuthbert’s Church, overlooking Darlington marketplace.

The American President wants a peace deal based on an agreement that the US would have rights to jointly develop Ukraine’s valuable minerals.

But with talks between Zelenskyy and the American administration breaking down angrily at the end of last week, while European leaders rallied round Ukraine, no agreement has yet been signed.

Ramazan believes the events of the past few weeks have set “a terrible example” to other dictators in the world.

“It sends a message that you can get away with aggression, invade another country, kill so many people, and be successful,” he says.

“I talk to Ukrainians in Darlington and everyone needs the war to come to an end, but it has to be a fair and just end, with security for Ukraine.

“My sympathy is with Ukraine, but Trump wants everything on his own terms. He wants a business deal, and that means Putin has won. That’s the reality, we can’t fool ourselves any longer.

“When the war first started, there was huge opposition in Russia, many protests, but that’s not happening now.

“Because of oppression, people have accepted the war more. It’s gone quiet.”

Despite having been active in those protests while he was still in his homeland, Ramazan now feels he has to move on and build a new life.

“I can’t always be angry – I have to let it go because I know I can’t affect what is happening,” he says.

Since we last met three years ago, he has been granted asylum by the UK government. It took four years to be confirmed but he has official  refugee status.

He is in his second year of a law degree at Teesside University, and has made lots of friends in Darlington.

They include plenty of Ukrainians and he has made himself available at the town’s Ukrainian hub to help with visas and translation.

“We get on fine. They understand that among 145 million people in Russia, they can’t all be bad,” he smiles.

Once he graduates, Ramazan hopes to find work as a lawyer, preferably in international law, and would like to stay in Darlington.

“In some ways, everything seems to have happened so fast, but Darlington feels like home to me now,” he adds.

“I never want to leave Darlington – it sounds strange to say this but it’s like I was born here. The people are so friendly and I have nice neighbours where I live.”

He’s working hard on his studies, and says they are going well, even though the law in this country is very different from what he knew in Russia, and it’s harder when English isn’t your first language.

He knows it will be hard to find a job in international law while being based in Darlington, so he’s willing to consider a job in any aspect of the legal profession.

In the meantime, he delivers pizzas to help make ends meet.

His parents and brother are still in St Petersburg and he talks to them every day.

“They are fine. As long as they are not involved in politics, and keep their heads down, they are allowed to get on with their lives.”

Ramazan hopes he can return to Russia to see his family again but he accepts that day remains a long way off.

“It can never happen under the Putin regime. The reality is that I would be arrested immediately if I went back now,” he says, though he remains happy to be identified.

His hope is that a fair resolution to the war can be found, with Ukraine being given the security of being part of NATO.

But he finds it hard to be optimistic about what the future holds now that America’s position is clear.

Recommended reading:

“Putin isn’t going to stop here. Sooner or later, he’ll go further, taking more land.

“People like Donald Trump are giving him the encouragement for that to happen…and we should all be worried about what it all means.”

As Ramazan Paizov says goodbye, and goes off to continue the studies he hopes will lead to work in the legal profession, he is acutely aware of the critical challenge facing international law.