Russian authorities have set a July 1, 2026 deadline for owners of land and real estate in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine to re-register property that was originally recorded under Ukrainian law. To complete the re-registration, owners are required to appear in person and present a Russian passport — a demand that many displaced Ukrainians cannot meet.
Lyudmila (name changed), who fled the Zaporizhzhia region for Kyiv in 2022 after her business was bombed, says she cannot bring herself to return. “It breaks my heart,” she said. “I built my whole life there. I had hoped they would at least let me keep my apartment.” For a time she kept paying utilities via neighbors or relatives, but eventually stopped. She does not intend to travel back to the occupied territory to register her home with the occupying authorities. She fears encountering occupation officials and the personal risks and stress involved, and she is unsure whether she would even be allowed entry.
Seizures of homes in Russia-controlled areas began as early as 2014. In 2021, authorities in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic started classifying abandoned residential properties as “ownerless,” enabling courts to seize or sell them. In 2024 the occupying administrations extended that definition to include apartments or buildings that have been empty for more than a year, have no paid utility bills, and whose owners are absent from Russian land registries. Officials argued this was needed to protect the physical security of properties. At the end of 2025, that approach was enshrined at the federal level in Russia, allowing so-called “ownerless” apartments to be transferred to Russian citizens.
Estimating the scale of the transfers is difficult, but Russian officials have released figures. Last August, Oleg Skufinskiy, head of Russia’s Federal Service for State Registration, said there were about 550,000 “ownerless” properties in occupied Ukrainian territories, including roughly 13,000 residential units in Mariupol. Lists of such properties have been published online.
In theory, an “ownerless” property can be removed from these lists if it is re-registered in the Russian land registry. Russian law does not formally require property owners to be Russian citizens to register, yet sources with contacts inside occupied Donetsk say it is practically impossible to complete the process without a Russian passport.
The re-registration procedure has also been tightened. Where it was once possible to use a power of attorney and register via Russian consulates abroad, owners now must appear in person to transfer property or re-register it. Human rights groups in Ukraine strongly advise against travel to occupied areas or to Russia for this purpose because of serious safety risks.
Onysiia Syniuk of the Kyiv-based ZMINA Human Rights Center warns that crossing into Russia can be perilous. Entry routes for Ukrainians often include passing through Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, where Russian officials conduct so-called “filtration” checks. Authorities can scrutinize answers, devices, or other personal information; in some cases people are banned from entering, and in others they risk arrest with unknown consequences. Those who are permitted entry may then be pressured to apply for Russian passports, a step that also carries risks such as possible conscription into the Russian military.
Ukrainian legal and humanitarian experts stress the policy’s illegality. Anatoly Kolesnikov, a lawyer with the Ukrainian relief organization East SOS, says Kyiv does not consider it collaboration if displaced Ukrainians seek Russian documentation to protect life and property. Still, he argues, the wider aim appears to be to turn Ukrainians into Russian citizens and to identify those viewed as disloyal so their assets can be confiscated — a clear violation of Ukrainian and international law.
As a protective measure, experts recommend that property owners document losses and register with international mechanisms. The Council of Europe’s Register of Damage for Ukraine, launched in May 2023, is intended as a first step toward establishing a mechanism that could later support justice and compensation claims, though details on timing and amounts remain uncertain.
Ukraine has also created domestic compensation programs. The eVidnovlennya state initiative offers financial assistance to citizens whose homes were damaged or destroyed and to internally displaced persons; separate additional payments are available for those disabled in combat or otherwise affected by hostilities.
Lyudmyla said she plans to report her losses to the Register of Damage for Ukraine. For now, she relies on work, her own resilience, and the support of her daughter. Many other displaced property owners face similar dilemmas: return and accept risks to try to preserve ownership, or remain displaced and risk losing homes under rules imposed by occupying authorities.
This article was originally written in Ukrainian.