According to an analysis of documents released by the Russian occupation authorities since July 2024, at least 5.700 homes have been identified as occupied in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol. To save their homes from occupation, Ukrainians have faced a dangerous return to Mariupol through Russia, arduous security checks, a complex bureaucratic process, and overwhelming pressure to accept a Russian passport.
Russian authorities are systematically occupying thousands of homes belonging to Ukrainian residents who have fled Mariupol, according to a BBC investigation, as the city enters its third year under Russian occupation. At least 5.700 homes have been identified as occupied, according to an analysis of documents released by the Russian occupation authorities since July 2024. To save their homes from occupation, Ukrainians have faced a dangerous return to Mariupol through Russia, arduous security checks, a complex bureaucratic process and overwhelming pressure to accept a Russian passport. Most of the properties affected previously belonged to Ukrainians who either fled or died during the 86-day Russian siege of the strategically important city in 2022. According to Human Rights Watch, the bombings killed more than 8.000 people, but this figure, according to the organization, is likely “a gross underestimate.”
The confiscation is seen as part of a larger scheme to Russify the occupied coastal city, which includes building new military zones and renaming streets after titles approved by Moscow.
The Russian siege has left 93% of Mariupol’s high-rise buildings – 443 towers – destroyed or damaged, according to a study by Human Rights Watch. Since then, Russia claims to have built more than 70 new apartment blocks, but local residents say they face a severe housing shortage. There have been reports for some time that Russia is seizing property in occupied Ukraine. But a new law has sped up the process – and made it harder for Ukrainian owners to claim their rights. As well as 2.200 homes earmarked for immediate seizure by city officials, another 3.550 have been identified for potential confiscation, according to an analysis of city documents. Halyna is one of 350.000 Ukrainians who are said to have fled Mariupol to escape the Russian occupation. Her last name has not been published for reasons of safety for her family, who are still in the city.
She said her apartment block on the seafront of the city, which had a pre-war population of 425.000, was badly damaged by Russian tank fire during the siege. She was told that the apartment’s “windows and doors” had been repaired, and that people were living there without her permission. She fears the apartment will be occupied. “This is legalized property theft,” she said.
“OWNERLESS” PROPERTIES OF UKRAINIANS
Officials use the term “ownerless” to describe homes they say are not in use or no longer have a legal owner — effectively properties that are not registered in Russia. But these apartments do have legal owners — Ukrainian residents who have fled the Russian occupation, or the heirs of those who have died in Russian attacks. Official documents published on the website of the pro-Russian administration show the complex process that leads to properties being seized after they are reported by local inspectors or residents. Within 10 days of the initial report, the Russian authorities in power publish a notice on their website listing their property with a “sign that it is ownerless.” The owner must then appear in Mariupol with ownership documents and a Russian passport.
Authorities say they will also accept other forms of identification, but they do not specify which. If the owner does not physically appear within 30 days of the listing being published, authorities begin registering the property as “ownerless.”
Once a property is placed on the “ownerless” register, authorities wait for three months before seeking a court decision to transfer the house to the city. It is not yet known how many apartments have made it through the final stages of the court process. But a recent press conference by Oleg Morgun – the Russian-based mayor of Mariupol – said that a final court decision had been issued to take ownership of about 600 apartments. In practice, if your home is on one of these lists, it is more or less “impossible” to get rid of it, according to Petro Andrushenko, a former adviser to the Ukrainian mayor of Mariupol. Earlier this month, Morgun insisted that the homes would be removed from the register if “an owner complains.”
“LEGAL” USURANCE
Once homes are seized, a law passed last year allows authorities to transfer ownership to individuals. Only residents of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic who have lost property and hold Russian passports are eligible to receive homes through the scheme. The authorities are apparently aiming to make it harder for Ukrainians to defend their rights. All homes in places like Mariupol must be registered in Russia – but a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in March has banned citizens from “unfriendly” countries – including Ukraine – from registering property in the occupied territories until 2028 without special permission. That leaves Ukrainians with an impossible choice: their safety and identities, or their homes.
Pavlo said he had to stay in Mariupol during the siege after being wounded by Russian soldiers. He prevented his house from being seized by obtaining a Russian passport and says that “95% of all conversations in the city are about property.” His real name is hidden for security reasons.
In Telegram group chats – some with thousands of users – many locals seem confused about the process and in some cases don’t understand how their property was declared “ownerless”. “The rules are not clear and they are not published anywhere. You can be prosecuted, but anything Ukrainian on your phone or in the records they have of you,” Halyna said. Diana Berg also fled the city to escape the Russian invasion, leaving behind her family home. She is now elsewhere in Ukraine. To prevent the property from falling into the city’s ownership, Diana’s relatives will have to return to Mariupol. The only way to do that is by flying to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, where they will face arduous security checks by the Federal Security Service (FSB) – known as “filtration”.
Diana said there is “no way” her family can travel to Mariupol. “The ‘filtering’ procedure… can take up to a week. You are not imprisoned, but you are kept in a space while they check you.”
RUSSIFICATION OF THE CONQUERED CITY
The housing plans are seen as part of a wider campaign to Russify the southern Ukrainian city. Satellite images and media reports show that a new naval academy and a large war memorial are being built in the city. A new coat of arms has also been approved, removing the Ukrainian language and adding Russian symbols. While many of these changes have been implemented with little resistance, the housing scheme has faced rare criticism from Mariupol’s remaining residents, who are uncomfortable with the status of the apartments they are being offered. The protests began after President Putin personally endorsed the scheme in December.
A legal expert said the plan marked a clear breach of the laws of war set out in the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Hague Convention, which prohibit the seizure of civilian property except in very isolated cases. Nehal Bhuta, from the University of Edinburgh, said the seizures were illegal as they were made possible by the “illegal annexation” approved by the parliament in Moscow in 2022. For Ukrainians, Andrushenko said it was a stressful and confusing process. “It’s like someone is hurting you again and again. You can’t understand how it is possible that your apartment, your property is ‘ownerless’. It’s like being hit in the head with a hammer,” Andrushenko said. (BBC)
