On August 21, 2022, all attention would go to Gramsh city of Albania, where the Russians Svetlana Timofeeva and Mikail Zorin as well as the Ukrainian Fedir Alpatov would clash with the Albanian soldiers.
The Albanian prosecution accused them of espionage and claimed that the trio had come to Albania to gather military and strategic national security information, while a year after the event, Timofeeva and Alpatov would leave prison to be followed in a free state, while 23-year-old Mikali Zorin is still following the “house arrest” security measure.
In an interview for Euronews Albania, Svetlana Timofeeva says that she has been living in Albania for a year without any kind of document and because of this fact, her actions are very limited.
She says that she requested a work permit, which was not approved by the court.
“I live in Albania without documents, I have to go to the police station once a month, tell them that I’m still here and I’m waiting. I asked for permission to work through the court, to get the documents, just to do something officially in Albania, but the court didn’t give permission to me. I am using the savings from the past life but they are not unlimited. I can’t go on like this. I have asked to work in tourism, to promote Albania, to be a guide, to do something here, but no one allows me.” – said Timofeeva.
Lana tells journalist Xhensil Shkëmbi that life in Albania is boring for her even though she has not given up her hobby of visiting abandoned places and exploring nature.
“It’s a bit boring because it’s a small place, especially when you’re unemployed. I have visited almost every corner of Albania. I’ve visited everything, abandoned places, I’ve been to islands, parks, pretty much everywhere.” – said Svetlana.
Lana Sator, as she has the name of her blog, has a request for the Albanian authorities.
“I want them to hear from me that I want to start work, I want them to pay attention to me, they see that I have the opportunity to live here and promote tourism, someone should be responsible for my refugee request. I live without documents after a year just out of prison, I have no insurance, I can’t use the bank, I don’t even accept Western Union remittances. They may not be too late for me, but I may yet live. But one day the money may run out, what will I do?” – she said further.
Euronews Albania contacted the prosecutor of the case, Kreshnik Ajazi, who stated that the documents of the Russian citizen are seized due to the security measure “ban abroad” but to Svetlana Timofeeva was given a document that enables her activity in the Albanian state in any institution.
