Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
They will be given to state and municipal employees, military personnel, medical staff and more.
In the midst of ongoing tensions in Eastern Europe, Russian authorities are moving forward with a controversial plan concerning housing in territories under their control.
According to the news website Meduza, the Russian government is preparing legislation that would allow it to take control of so-called “ownerless” homes in the occupied Ukrainian regions of Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson.
The proposed measure seeks to bring these areas into Russia’s legal and economic system while redistributing abandoned properties to local residents, state workers, and members of the military.
According to the media, properties without valid ownership documents or where the owner cannot be identified will be classified as “ownerless” and handed over to occupation authorities or local municipalities.
Who gets the homes?
The draft law from Russia’s Ministry of Construction outlines that these “ownerless” residential properties can be transferred to citizens who live permanently in the occupied territories and lost their homes due to the war.
It also specifies that employees of state and municipal institutions, military personnel, police officers, teachers, and medical staff will be eligible to receive the redistributed housing.
Officials argue that this process will help stabilize the living situation in the occupied regions, which have suffered severe destruction since the start of the conflict.
A conditional return
The proposal does include a provision stating that if the original owners of the seized properties reappear and can prove their rights, the homes should be returned to them.
However, the practical implementation of such a clause remains unclear, especially given the ongoing hostilities and the displacement of millions of Ukrainians since 2022.
Critics suggest that this policy amounts to state-backed property nationalization and could further complicate future negotiations over territorial status and ownership rights.
This article is made and published by Jens Asbjørn Bogen, which may have used AI in the preparation
