Moscow has set July 1, 2026 as the deadline for landowners in occupied areas of Ukraine to claim their property. The requirement is to appear in person with a Russian passport, something impossible for millions of displaced people who fled the war. Since 2014, occupying authorities have systematically confiscated properties, and in 2024 a federal law was passed that considers any home abandoned if it has been empty for more than a year without paid services or Russian registration.
The property control system: technology at the service of occupation 🏠
The measure relies on a unified Russian digital registration system that cross-references data on utility payments, population censuses, and migration movements. Algorithms detect properties with no activity for more than 12 months and mark them as abandoned. If the owner does not have a profile in the Russian identification system (Gosuslugi), the home is transferred to a state fund. The technology also allows tracking whether the owner resides in territory controlled by Ukraine, blocking any remote claims.
The express procedure: lose your home and pay for the return ticket too 🎭
Lyudmila, who escaped from Zaporizhzhia, hopes her city will be liberated so she doesn't have to re-register her apartment with the occupiers. But the Kremlin has simplified the process: if you don't return before 2026, your home becomes nobody's and then Russia's. The most ironic part is that to claim it, you would have to travel to occupied territory, request an appointment at a Russian office, and prove you didn't die trying. So, a low-cost vacation plan with total loss of assets included.