Over 13 weeks, occupation administrations have published 10,628 addresses of real estate that can be taken away from owners

The occupation administrations in four regions of Ukraine published at least 1,729 addresses of real estate “with signs of ownerlessness” from 11 to 24 November. In thirteen weeks since the beginning of the count, at least 10,628 addresses of “property with signs of ownerlessness” have been published.

The 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 provide the documents within 30 days of the announcement, their property will be transferred to “state” or “municipal” ownership.

The text of the announcements makes it clear that property owners must present Russian documents.

As can be seen from the announcements, such property audits are taking place in all Russian-occupied territories except Crimea, 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 the Donetsk and Luhansk regions occupied since 2014-2015, property had been taken away from its rightful owners long before the annexation. Since recently, property owners in all occupied territories must register their property with the Russian State Register.

This autumn, occupation administrations in the Zaporizhzhia region publish lists of property “with signs of ownerlessness” one to two times per month. However, the corresponding section on the website of the occupation administration of the Zaporizhzhia region shows that residential and commercial property has been audited there since 2022.

As in the rest of the occupied territories, except for Crimea, the intensification of this activity in the Zaporizhzhia region falls in the spring and summer of 2024. For example, in July, the occupation administration of the region published 1,105 addresses of mostly private real estate, and in some cases, it was about confirming ownership of part of a property (presumably in cases where some family members left and the rest remained in the occupied territories). In June 2024, there were 237 such addresses, while in May there were 1,245.

On 11-24 November the occupation administrations in the Donetsk “republic” published the most addresses of real estate “with signs of ownerlessness.” The occupation administration of Mariupol found the most such properties – 402 addresses.

A significant number of local occupation administrations in the Luhansk region have consistently published round or repeatedly the same number of addresses of real estate “with signs of ownerlessness” (5, 20, 30 addresses), which may indicate that they have certain regulatory requirements set for them.

The occupation administration of Lysychansk in the Luhansk region publishes 20 addresses of apartments “with signs of ownerlessness” every week, even if several such consecutive publications refer to the same building. Of the more than a hundred addresses published in October and November, 32 and 33 were of two neighbouring residential buildings. Another 73 apartments “with signs of ownerlessness” have so far been found in one building in the next neighbourhood on the city’s outskirts, which has been heavily affected by fighting in 2022.

One of the publications on the website of the Lysychansk occupation administration

The occupation administration of Mariupol has consistently published the most addresses. The tables it publishes make it clear the extent of the city’s destruction and depopulation. For example, according to the summary data of the occupation administration of Mariupol, published on 20 September, 497 non-residential premises and 4,213 residential premises “with signs of ownerlessness” were found in the city. Another 1,564 premises, according to the occupation administration, have been excluded from the list of ownerless premises, which means that their owners have been found and were able to confirm their rights.

Media regularly report about the impossibility for residents who stayed in the city to get housing in Mariupol to replace the destroyed ones. They report about the demolition of entire neighbourhoods, which are being replaced by new residential complexes with apartments for sale and new 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, while others, even within the same region, publish them in special sections.

In late October, the occupation administration of Antratsyt in the Luhansk region published for the first time a fresh list of properties “with signs of ownerlessness” with a specific date, and added dates to addresses it had published previously. Lists without a publication date made it absurd to require owners to come forward within 30 days of the publication of their property addresses.

Most of the websites of the occupation administrations in the Donetsk region are virtually impossible to access by users outside 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 of the possibility of their property being recognised as “ownerless”: no relevant lists can be found on the website or the administration’s social media pages. Nevertheless, in early October and early November, it published dozens of “resolutions” declaring properties “ownerless”, i.e. 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 have 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.

Lysychansk, Siverskodonetsk and Rubizhne. The marker stands on the site of a building where 73 apartments with “signs of ownerlessness” were found

Additionally, 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.

In addition, there are reports of an increasing 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. Entry to the occupied territories of Ukraine from outside Russia is possible only after passing a special check at the Russian Sheremetyevo airport by representatives of the Russian special services.

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

Residents of the occupied territories can obtain a Russian passport only until the end of 2024. Those locals who are unwilling or unable to do so will have only the rights of foreigners under Russian law in their occupied regions.

Nevertheless, according to the Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, more and more displaced Ukrainians are returning to the occupied territories. According to Lubinets, this is due to the lack of material assistance from the state, the unpredictability of state policy towards internally displaced people and friction between them and residents of the communities to which they have been forced to move.