“Today, our republic resembles the story of 'what has fallen is lost.'
In Russia, a law has been adopted for the confiscation of housing in occupied territories of Ukraine for the benefit of the state. Occupation administrations are granted the right to recognize apartments and houses in captured settlements as "ownerless" in a special manner until 2030. The criteria will be determined locally. Designated "ownerless" housing will be transferred to the ownership of regions, even if the owner cannot be established based on existing documents. If the owners are found, they are promised compensation for their loss. However, the issue of property rights in the occupied territories is already quite complicated.
Pro-Russian propagandist Yulia Skubayeva, as a resident of the "DPR" (the occupied part of the Donetsk region), complains about the lawlessness of the Kremlin-appointed officials. According to her, they are seizing "ownerless" apartments.
"Today, our republic resembles the story of 'what has fallen is lost.' How can we name a region where 300,000 apartments have been quietly swept under the rug by a secret decree? A pirate republic," Skubayeva notes.
Residents of Mariupol also complain about the arbitrariness, as their homes have been demolished without providing them with new housing in return. Numerous appeals to Putin have appeared online: "We, former owners of houses at Komsolmolsky Boulevard, house 40/1, house 42, and house 44, appeal to our president Putin. Vladimir Vladimirovich, restore order in the territory of the 'DPR.' In particular, in Mariupol. Save the residents of the city."
"Novaya Gazeta. Europe" reported back in May 2024 that the authorities appointed by Russia had identified more than 13,000 "ownerless" real estate properties in the occupied territories of Ukraine over three years. Journalists from the BBC counted this spring that only in Mariupol, the occupation administration identified at least 5,700 apartments subject to confiscation.
Petr Andryushchenko, head of the Center for the Study of Occupation and former advisor to the mayor of Mariupol, comments.
– How many apartments can currently be confiscated from Ukrainians?
– If we are talking about Mariupol, we are talking about tens of thousands of apartments that will end up in the ownership of the Russian Federation in one way or another. Fresh data shows that 4,700 apartments in Mariupol have already been recognized as ownerless and will be nationalized. On average, 200 apartments are added to the register as ownerless every week. This has accelerated since Anton Koltsov was appointed as the mayor of Mariupol by the occupation authorities. He is a Russian, not a Mariupol resident, and was the deputy of the Kremlin-appointed leader of the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky. It is precisely for his "successes" in the nationalization of ownerless property in the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia that he was appointed to Mariupol. He is actively engaged in this.
It has already reached the point where not only apartments of Mariupol residents who are in evacuation, do not have Russian citizenship, and have not received a passport are recognized as ownerless and nationalized. There are at least three verified cases where people who are in Mariupol, living in their apartments, have had their apartments recognized as ownerless simply because the purchase and sale transactions were carried out after 2014. The occupation authorities did not recognize the provided documents. They claim they cannot verify this due to a lack of access to Ukrainian registers. First and foremost, apartments that can be lived in today will be nationalized as ownerless, rather than those that are in a state of complete destruction.
– What happens to these apartments after confiscation?
– Currently, the apartments that have already been confiscated are primarily transferred to the so-called security block – the FSB, police, and military. The second tier consists of families of veterans and heroes of the special military operation, as they call it. Additionally, they are preparing a queue for budget workers, who are to be attracted from other regions – this includes healthcare and education. There is a shortage of personnel on the ground, so they are trying to use this as an additional incentive for someone to come work in Mariupol.
There are no Mariupol residents there at all. Among those Mariupol residents who are in the city, more than 22,000 people who have received Russian citizenship and hold a passport do not have housing. Their homes have been demolished to the level of a pit. And they cannot receive an apartment, even one that was roughly taken from other Mariupol residents. If this were happening, there would at least be some understanding. The apartments that are nationalized from Ukrainians do not go to Ukrainians who are in occupation.
The most striking example is probably the resettlement of houses located right across from the drama theater in the historical area. Apparently, this is done so that they do not reflect with empty windows when the drama theater opens this year, as they want to do. And there, the security block is being settled. I know these houses not by hearsay. I myself am from that yard; I lived there since childhood. I know many neighbors, and I have talked to everyone I know whose apartment is in that house, and they have ownership rights. They are not in Mariupol; their apartments are occupied by strangers, and all of them belong to the security block of the Russian Federation.
– What must the owners of this housing, Mariupol residents who have now left, go through to get their housing back, or at least have the opportunity to sell it?
– There is currently no legal possibility. Let me explain why. The process of passportization under a simplified scheme for people who were registered in the occupied territories before the full-scale invasion has ended. It was valid until January 1, 2025. So, if today I go to Mariupol to re-register my apartment, I need to obtain Russian citizenship. And I can only obtain Russian citizenship through the general procedures, just like all other foreigners. This means that at best, it will take one to two years. During this time, my apartment will be recognized as "ownerless" and will pass into the ownership of the Russian Federation. Therefore, for Ukrainians who are in evacuation, there are no conditionally legal options to return their property.
