Russia Snatching Thousands of Vacant Homes in Occupied Territories

Russia is planning to nationalize 13,000 houses and apartments in the temporarily occupied territories following local administrations badging them as "ownerless property," Novaya Gazeta Europe reports.

Where the rightful owners do not make an appearance within a month, the properties are understood to be expropriated.

Despite pro-Kremlin authorities claiming that they will only seize real estate that has been empty for “years,” around 80 percent of properties marked as “ownerless” are located in recently illegally occupied cities and in the most attractive areas, according to the article.

Russian-appointed administration officials identify the “ownerless” housing and often rely on denunciations from local residents when selecting properties for inclusion in the “abandoned” register.

The Russian propaganda media outlet TASS, citing the pseudo-head of the government of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) Yevgeny Solntsev, said that “about 30,000 ownerless objects” have accumulated in the DNR alone during the full-scale invasion.

Previously, the National Resistance Center (CNR) reported that the properties are being taken by the state without the owners being informed. This is irrespective of whether the owner left the house and went to territory controlled by Kyiv, abroad, or to the territory of the Russian Federation.

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There are also reported cases of housing being seized from Ukrainians who have received a Russian passport. In some such cases, the occupying administrations are understood to be offering housing to Russian soldiers and their families, or government representatives who are ready to settle in the temporarily occupied areas.