In 19 weeks, occupation administrations published 13656 addresses of real estate that can be taken away from owners

At least 584 addresses of real estate “with signs of ownerlessness” were published by the occupation administrations in four regions of Ukraine in the last week of December 2024 and the first days of January 2025, from 23 December to 5 January. In the 19 weeks since the start of the count, at least 13656 property addresses “with signs of ownerlessness” have been published.

The corresponding announcements of the occupation municipal and regional administrations state that the owners of such property can claim their rights to it by contacting them in person with an identity document, taxpayer identification number and documents certifying the right to the property.

If the owners do not come forward with the documents within 30 days of the announcement, their property will be transferred to “state” or “municipal” ownership.

It is clear from the text of the announcements that property owners must present Russian documents.

As can be seen from the announcements, such an audit of real estate is taking place in all Russian-occupied territories, except Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, including those parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions over which Ukraine lost control in 2014-2015. Russia annexed all of these territories in September 2022, but in the parts of Donetsk and Luhansk occupied since 2014-2015, property had been taken away from its rightful owners long before the annexation. Recently, in all occupied territories, property owners have been required to register their property with the Russian State Register.

Since autumn, the occupation administration of the Zaporizhzhia region has been publishing consolidated lists of property “with signs of ownerlessness” once or twice a month. Compared to other occupied parts of Ukraine, these are the shortest lists, but the special section on the website of the occupation administration of the Zaporizhzhia region shows that residential and commercial property has been audited there since 2022.

Since 23 December, the occupation administration of Mariupol has published the most addresses of real estate “with signs of ownerlessness”, 215 addresses.

It can be difficult to find lists of real estate “with signs of ownerlessness” or “ownerless” in the occupied parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Some occupation administrations in these territories publish fresh lists in the news feeds on their “official” websites, others, even within the same region, publish them in special sections.

Most of the websites of the occupation administrations in the Donetsk region are virtually inaccessible to users outside of Russia, while some of these administrations do not publish the addresses of “property with signs of ownerlessness” on their social media pages.

The occupation administration of Lutuhyne does not inform owners about the possibility of their property being recognised as “ownerless”: no relevant lists can be found on the website or on the administration’s social media pages. Nevertheless, in early October and early November, it published dozens of “resolutions” on the recognition of real estate as “ownerless”, i.e., already in the process of being transferred to “municipal” ownership.

The occupation administration of Svatove in the Luhansk region hardly ever updates its website or its social media pages.

The occupation administrations of Lysychansk, Rubizhne and Siverskodonetsk are steadily updating their websites and social media pages, but none of the three neighbouring cities that form the agglomeration has internet or telephone connections. In addition, entry to them is restricted, even for people who live next to them in the occupied part of the Luhansk region.

In addition, local media report difficulties in registering or confirming ownership of real estate in the occupied territories due to the lack or complete absence of notaries.

There are also reports of an increase in the number of cases of Ukrainian refugees failing to pass the filtering measures in Russia while trying to return from abroad to obtain Russian documents and confirm their ownership of property in the occupied territories. Ukrainian citizens can enter the occupied territories of Ukraine from outside Russia only after passing a special check at the Russian Sheremetievo airport by representatives of the Russian border guards and special services.

From a discussion on the page of the occupation administration of Lysychansk in the Russian social media platform VK

The possibility of obtaining a Russian passport for residents of the occupied territories remained only until the end of 2024. Those locals who did not want or could not do so, from 1 January 2025, have only the rights of foreigners under Russian law in their occupied towns and villages.