Displaced Ukrainians risk home seizure under Russian law

Russian authorities have granted owners of land and real estate in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine until July 1, 2026 to claim ownership of any property originally registered under Ukrainian law. But to re-register their property in the Russian land registry, owners have to appear in person and present a Russian passport as proof of their identity — an impossibility for many Ukrainians. "It breaks my heart," said Lyudmila (name changed.) "I built my whole life there.

I had to leave behind everything I held dear. I had hoped they would at least let me keep my apartment." In 2022, she fled the Zaporizhzhia region to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, to escape the Russian occupation . But she continued to pay the utility bills for her home. "At first, a neighbor kept an eye on the apartment, and after that my ex-husband did. Then I decided that starting with New Year's Day, I would stop paying the bills. I don't know if I was even right to pay them in the first place," Lyudmyla told DW. "I am waiting for my city to be liberated." Until then, she doesn't intend to go home to re-register her apartment with the occupying authorities. "First of all, I don't want to see the occupiers because I was there and I know what these people are like. And I don't want to lose years of my life and get stressed. Second, I don't even know if they would let me in." Russian occupiers started seizing the homes of Ukrainians in occupied territories in 2014. Seven years, in 2021, the authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic began classifying abandoned residential properties as "ownerless." These can now be sold or seized by "courts." In 2024, the occupying authorities went a step further and defined as "ownerless" apartments or buildings that have been vacant for more than a year, for which no utility bills have been paid, and whose owners do not appear in Russian land registries. They justified the decision by saying that the security of the property itself was at risk.

Key points

• I had to leave behind everything I held dear.
• I had hoped they would at least let me keep my apartment." In 2022, she fled the Zaporizhzhia region to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, to escape the Russian occupation .
• But she continued to pay the utility bills for her home.
• "At first, a neighbor kept an eye on the apartment, and after that my ex-husband did.
• Then I decided that starting with New Year's Day, I would stop paying the bills.