Russians have categorised around 25,000 apartments and houses in Mariupol as "ownerless"

The Russian occupation authorities in Mariupol have added around 25,000 apartments and houses to their lists of so-called "ownerless" property which they plan to transfer to municipal ownership. The property owners have been given until 1 July 2026 to prove their right to their homes.

Source: an investigation by Novyny Donbasu (Donbas News), which analysed and compared lists of "ownerless" property from the occupation "administration's" website, social media posts, and data from the legitimate city council

Details: The occupation authorities introduced the term "ownerless housing" in 2023, when they began to post lists of apartments they claimed were unowned in the entrances to apartment buildings. The journalists say that between summer 2023 and April 2026 over 45,000 addresses appeared on such lists; after eliminating duplicates, more than 24,000 separate properties remain.

Before the occupation, Mariupol had 2,249 apartment buildings containing 135,176 apartments and 37,252 houses. The occupation authorities have thus declared around 15% of the city's housing stock to be "ownerless", though the actual percentage is higher because some of the buildings have been destroyed by Russian forces and a further 452 buildings, according to the occupation authorities, have been demolished.

The Russians are prioritising the densely populated Central district. The building with the highest number of "ownerless" apartments is 31, Kazantsev Street. It was heavily damaged during the fighting: after it was rebuilt, 199 of its 216 apartments were declared "ownerless". Other buildings include 4, Kotliarevskyi Street (173 out of 216 apartments) and 106, Myr Avenue (161 apartments).

How properties are seized: The process involves several stages. First the property is listed as "showing signs of being ownerless", then it is registered by "decree" (as of the end of May 2026, 5,306 properties have been registered), then it is declared "ownerless" and entered into a register (4,336 properties), after which it passes into municipal ownership. Throughout this entire period, only 358 addresses have been removed from the lists.

To prove their right to their own homes, owners are forced to obtain a Russian passport and register their property in the Russian registry – a lengthy, expensive and risky process. For a Ukrainian citizen to register their rights, a special permit is required from a collegial body set up by the head of the Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, which cannot be obtained outside the occupied territory. Since December 2025, the occupation authorities have also stripped Ukrainians of the ability to issue a power of attorney through Russian embassies.

What human rights defenders advise: Onisiia Syniuk, head of the analysis department at the ZMINA Human Rights Centre, stresses that travelling to occupied territory is extremely dangerous due to the risk of being interrogated and detained by the FSB. Instead, she advises documenting all property-related violations remotely, notifying Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, and filing claims with the Register of Damage (under the category "Loss of access to property in occupied territory"). Under Ukrainian law, people whose homes have been seized retain the right of ownership with respect to their property.

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