Fearless Swedish MP leaves husband at home to fight for Ukraine

A fearless Swedish MP who joined the Ukrainian army to fight the Russians is now set to join her comrades in the spring offensive. Before the war, Caroline Nordengrip, 42, was the elected official for the Swedish Democrats for Västra Götaland County South, a region close to the city of Gothenburg.

When the Russian invasion began in February 2022 Caroline and other politicians urgently met with the Ukrainian ambassador to hear about the conflict.

Moved by the dreadful news coming in from the war, Caroline, who undertook national service in Sweden, said she decided she needed to act.

After saying goodbye to her family and friends, and while still a serving MP, she joined the 47th Brigade of the Ukrainian Army and has been training combat soldiers ever since.

And now Caroline said she is set to go to the frontline in the spring offensive, which could see fierce fighting as Ukraine tries to force the Russians out.

Caroline, who is no longer an MP, said morale among her fellow soldiers was good and victory was the only option, but she knows she might not see some of her new-found friends again.

Speaking to Express.co.uk, she said: “The Russians should be kicked to their side of the border, there is no other alternative, it is not even spoken about. It is not if we are going to make it or not, we are going to make it.

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“I was training soldiers up to two weeks ago, and I will be joining the spring offensive as a soldier and not as a trainer anymore.

“Of course, you know that not all of your friends will be here afterwards, that is hard to say, but we are aware of that.

“Basically, you take the time that you have, you have friendships with different people that you normally wouldn’t meet, and everyone is here, and everyone is equal, so you develop very deep friendships. If they go you are going to miss them, but it is what it is.”

In the UK there have been famous examples of British MPs being criticised for joining reality TV shows, but Caroline said she has had almost unanimous support from voters and from other politicians for her decision to fight a war.

She said: “I haven’t heard anything bad, my party has been very supportive, also a lot of members from other parties have contacted me, I would say the reaction has been almost 100 percent supportive.

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“For me, I would not say that my brain left me any choice (not to join), I was in a meeting with the ambassador of Ukraine to Sweden, I think it was two days after the full-scale invasion started.

“We had live updates during the meeting and in the end, I was just shaking my head looking down at my fancy suit and high heels and I thought what the f-word am I doing here?

“After this, all the time awake I spent trying to figure out a way to get here (Ukraine). To get here in a good way to actually be helpful.”

Caroline joined the Ukrainian Army through her contact with the embassy and said her husband, family, and friends have all been behind her.

She said: “I called my husband, he was working abroad at the time, and I thought he would be able to get home before I should leave, but it changed from a week so I had to go in four days.

“I called him and said, ‘Well honey, I’m going to Ukraine’, and he went quiet for a few seconds and then said, ‘I’m surprised you haven’t already left’.”

Caroline has been home to Sweden at Christmas. Still, in April this year, she was officially accepted into the regular Ukrainian Army which now means she can join the spring offensive. Previously Caroline had been training soldiers.

Her message for people wanting to help Ukraine is that they can show support in a variety of ways.

She said: “Try to support as well as you can, it doesn’t mean that you need to support with money or that you need to go here.

“But show your support and show your politicians that you support them taking the decisions to donate weapons or funding, or just so they can give the political message to keep the Russians out of here.

“I was in Bucha two days after they released the Kyiv region, that was not a pretty sight.

“All the countries need to decide for themselves how much they want to help, Ukraine will win this, but to help to make this war as short as possible, every help is needed.

“I don’t have time to watch all the news all the time, but of course, it can always be done more and I’m very pleased to see how the West is gathering together to try to help and all the attempts by Russia to make the West and NATO weaker have gone down the drain.”

Speaking about what she misses from her life before, the now ex-MP said the list was not that long.

She said: “I would say for material things, I don’t miss anything, it’s actually quite nice when you realise you haven’t looked at yourself in the mirror for three weeks, even if you get a shock when you get home.

“Of course, I miss my family and friends, and weirdly enough I miss spring cleaning, I see friends back home starting to get their gardens ready, that was always my job.”

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