Ukrainian doctor faces uncertain future in Finland as EU temporary protection nears end

A 28-year-old Ukrainian doctor living in Mäntyharju, Finland, risks being forced to leave the country despite her qualifications and language skills, as the EU’s temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees is set to expire next March, Yle reports.

Kateryna Prochukhan, who fled Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in 2022, has spent three years in the southeastern Finnish municipality and wants to stay. A fully trained physician with a validated Finnish medical degree, she now faces a race against time to secure a residency training position—without it, she may have to abandon medicine or leave Finland entirely.

“This is my profession. I like helping people,” Prochukhan said in carefully practiced Finnish, which she has studied for just over a year. “I’ve lived here for three years now. I don’t want to move. This place suits me.”

Her situation mirrors that of thousands of Ukrainian refugees in Finland scrambling to meet the EU’s March 2027 deadline. After that date, staying legally will require either a well-paid job (minimum €1,600 monthly, more for those with families), a study place with €9,600 in savings, or family ties.

Prochukhan’s case highlights broader systemic delays. She waited 18 months for access to integration and language courses—a bottleneck Mäntyharju’s integration coordinator Katja Pulkkinen calls “unacceptable.” Pulkkinen describes skilled migrants like Prochukhan as a “gold nugget” for rural municipalities grappling with labor shortages, particularly in healthcare.

“A doctor who speaks Finnish, Ukrainian, Russian, and English? We have a doctor shortage here, and healthcare relies heavily on interpretation services,” Pulkkinen said. She estimates around 80 Ukrainians have settled in Mäntyharju (over 1% of its population), with many working in restaurants, agriculture, cleaning, or industry—while others remain unemployed.

Prochukhan has applied to multiple residency programs, including at the local wellbeing services county Eloisa, which reported no openings before autumn. Finland has received nearly 90,000 Ukrainian refugees under the EU scheme since 2022; roughly half have since left for Ukraine or other countries. Exact figures on employment or departures remain unclear, as not all notify authorities when leaving.

The Finnish Immigration Service notes annual arrivals have stabilized at around 10,000 since the initial 2022–2023 surge. But for those still in limbo, the uncertainty compounds existing trauma. “It’s like being a punching bag,” Pulkkinen said. “The stress of not knowing what happens next—on top of the war back home—is devastating.”