"Hand Over the Keys Nicely, or There Will Be Problems": How Russian Occupiers Seize Property From Kherson Residents
Russian occupiers have officially declared over a thousand homes, apartments, and other real estate properties in the temporarily Russian-controlled part of Kherson Oblast as "ownerless." The owners of these properties have been forced to flee — some now live in Ukrainian-controlled territories, others abroad.
This mass expropriation of housing and other property in the Russian-occupied, left-bank part of Kherson Oblast is one of many crimes committed by the Russian invaders against Ukraine and its people.
Occupiers take homes and other properties from Kherson residents both "officially" — by declaring them "ownerless" under procedures they themselves have invented — and simply by forcefully seizing any property they take a liking to, without even bothering to pretend there is any kind of legal basis for their actions.
According to the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, during an occupation, the legislation of the occupied state remains in force on the territories under the control of the occupiers. In other words, under international law, despite Russia's military presence, Ukrainian law continues to apply to these territories. Ideally, this means Russia should not only prevent the seizure of property belonging to Ukrainian citizens but also prosecute cases of unlawful entry and occupation of such homes.
Under both Ukrainian and international law, any appropriation of property by Russians on occupied Ukrainian territories has no legal standing whatsoever. All such property must be unconditionally returned to its rightful Ukrainian owners as soon as these territories are liberated.
Especially for Signal to Resist, Viacheslav Husakov spoke with people who have lived under Russian occupation in the left-bank part of Kherson Oblast and who know firsthand how the invaders treat local residents and their rights — particularly property rights.
They Take Away Ukrainian Documents and Don’t Issue Russian Ones
Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Valentyna* lived in one of the towns on the left bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast — a territory now temporarily occupied by Russia. She worked as a schoolteacher.
She fled with her family in the summer of 2022, when Russian occupiers announced their plans to start the new school year under Russian curricula and demanded that teachers return to work — essentially forcing them to become collaborators.
"Not long after we left, we found out that Russian soldiers had moved into our house," Valentyna recounts. "Neighbors told us that the occupiers had turned it into some kind of 'revolving door' — soldiers coming and going day and night, one group replacing another.
I have no idea why they picked our house — it’s nothing special, nothing fancy. Maybe they felt safe there because peaceful civilians, including families with small children, lived in the neighboring homes. The Russians probably figured that the Ukrainian army wouldn't strike at a place surrounded by civilians.
This went on for several months, and then the Russian soldiers just disappeared."
According to Valentyna, after the house stood empty for quite some time, her friend and her friend's husband finally gathered the courage to come over. They wanted to chase out the birds and stray animals that had moved in after the Russians left — having abandoned the place with the gates and doors left wide open. The couple cleaned up the house and installed new locks.
"When my friend's husband was already putting in the new locks, the occupation police showed up and drove them off, saying that our house was 'seized property,'" Valentyna says. "Maybe one of the neighbors called the occupation police. My friend and her husband were terrified they’d be taken to the 'basement'. But in the end, it only came down to a document check, threats, and demands that they leave immediately and never come back.”
“Now the house is sitting empty, wide open. So I really doubt it will be in any livable condition if the left bank of Kherson Oblast is ever de-occupied and we return to our hometown. Although I can’t rule out that the occupation authorities might just give our house to someone else."
Speaking about the general situation in the occupied territories — and in her town in particular — Valentyna emphasizes that the occupiers are now demanding that local residents apply for Russian passports and register their homes and other property under Russian law. But at the same time, she says, some very strange things are happening.
"Friends tell us that when people go to the occupation offices to register their apartments or houses, the authorities take away their Ukrainian property ownership documents. But then they drag out the process of issuing Russian documents — for months. People say very few actually receive those papers," Valentyna explains.
"Most of the people who wanted to get Russian documents confirming ownership of their homes are now stuck in a very difficult situation. Their Ukrainian ownership papers have been confiscated, but they aren’t getting Russian ones either — they’re told to wait because of some 'technical issues.' So now, the property of anyone who tried to register under the occupation system is left in limbo. And locals think this is being done on purpose."
According to Valentyna’s acquaintances, residents of the Russian-occupied part of Kherson Oblast suspect that the occupation authorities have been instructed by Moscow to deliberately delay issuing Russian property documents to keep people anxious and under pressure.
"Someone wants at least a little reassurance that their home won’t be taken away, so they go to register their house or apartment under the occupation authorities. But instead, their home becomes 'nobody’s.' So instead of the peace of mind they hoped for, people are left with even more stress. They’re made more vulnerable, easier to manipulate, to make them more loyal to the occupiers."
The Law Doesn’t Apply to Russians
The day after Serhii’s* mother’s funeral, local occupation officials showed up at his house in one of the villages on the part of Kherson Oblast temporarily occupied by Russia. They demanded that he hand over the keys to his parents' home.
"The local gauleiter said that the house where our parents lived is now 'ownerless.' He told my brother, 'Hand over the keys nicely, or you’ll have problems,'" says Andrii*, Serhii’s brother.
"The thing is," Andrii explains, "our parents officially transferred ownership of the house to Oleksandr — he’s their third son — years ago. Oleksandr and I live in Ukrainian-controlled territory, and Serhii stayed behind in the occupied zone. But even though Serhii is an heir to our parents' property — and even under Russian law he should have a right to it — the occupation authorities are still trying to take the house."
According to Andrii, local occupation officials openly admit that they’ve been instructed by the so-called "Kherson Oblast administration" — set up by Russia — to declare as many houses as possible "ownerless":
"My brother says that good 'ownerless' apartments and houses are being transferred into what's called a 'maneuver fund,' and then used to temporarily house Russians who come to the region for shift work — doctors, police officers, various bureaucrats for the occupation authorities.
Homes taken from local residents are also being handed out to Russians brought in for long-term stays under programs like 'Zemsky Doctor' and 'Zemsky Teacher'.
“By the way, when my brother went to the occupation authority's district office, he overheard a conversation between officials and some people who were being made "an offer they couldn’t refuse": they were offered to move into a 'nationalized' — meaning confiscated — apartment, but in exchange, had to give up their own home to a Russian who had arrived under one of these 'Zemsky' programs. People agreed — because what else could they do? You can imagine what would happen if they refused."
As for their parents’ house, Andrii says his brother is now trying to officially re-register the property in his own name. The occupiers' logic is brutally simple: if a property is registered to someone living in Ukrainian-controlled territory, they declare it "ownerless" — even if close family members remain living nearby in the occupied area.
"The occupation officials have already taken inventory of everything in our parents’ house and brought in new residents — a family that lost their home in the flood caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam," Andrii says. "These people had been living in a temporary shelter for over a year. The occupiers had promised to give them a place to live — and so they did, by taking our family’s home. Basically, they did a good deed at someone else’s expense."
"My brother says the new residents turned out to be decent people, thankfully. They agreed to a deal: they’ll live in the house for at least six months and keep it in good condition. And after those six months — the period required by both Ukrainian and Russian law before an heir can claim inheritance — my brother will try to officially transfer the house to his name. The family even said they might be willing to buy the house from us afterward."
According to Andrii, his family managed to find a lawyer in Crimea who agreed to help fight for their property and try to restore justice. In a private conversation, the lawyer admitted that on Ukrainian territory temporarily occupied by Russia, Russian laws are enforced only when it benefits the occupiers. Any provisions of Russian law that are supposed to protect residents' rights — including property rights — are simply ignored in the occupied territories.
Russian occupiers are demanding that residents of temporarily controlled Ukrainian lands return in person to re-register their property under Russian law. This is especially true in small villages and rural areas that aren’t appealing to Russian settlers. But the real reason occupiers want people back is to use them as "human shields."
"At first, no one was talking about taking away our homes," says Nadiia*, a resident of one of these villages. "It was only after I left that I found out people were given three months to return home — otherwise, all the houses would become 'state property of Russia.' Our head of the occupation administration put signs on every empty house in the village that said 'State Property.'”
"There are even houses where the owners asked someone to move in temporarily just so the homes wouldn’t sit empty. But the occupiers say, 'You need to go back to your own house — quickly. This is state property now, ownerless.' They even said that if necessary, they would sell those houses."
"Some of our people started writing power of attorney documents to protect their property and prevent it from being labeled 'ownerless.' But the occupation authorities refuse to accept those. They say the only valid power of attorney must be issued at a Russian embassy — only that counts as a document to them. And now it’s even worse: if you show up with such a document, they immediately seal the house and take it away."
Occupiers Rely on Informants
In October 2024, the so-called Kherson Oblast Duma, installed by Russian occupiers, adopted a law titled "On the Specifics of Recognizing Property Located on the Territory of Kherson Oblast as Ownerless and Acquiring State Ownership of Kherson Oblast Over Such Property."
According to this document, a resident of the part of Kherson Oblast temporarily occupied by Russia can legally own a house or apartment only under one condition: if they have obtained a Russian passport and registered their property under Russian law. If the rightful owner lives outside Kherson Oblast and cannot personally appear to confirm their ownership, the property is automatically declared ownerless.
Article 4 of this so-called law allows for the property owner’s interests to be represented by another person. But there’s a catch:
"A statement on behalf of a person who considers themselves the owner of property (including jointly owned property), which has signs of being ownerless, may be submitted by a representative whose authority is confirmed by the original of a notarized power of attorney issued on the territory of the Russian Federation," the law states.
In reality, it’s virtually impossible to find a notary in Russia willing to issue a power of attorney to represent a Ukrainian citizen in such a case.
The law also contains a provision that can encourage residents of occupied Kherson Oblast to act as informants. According to Article 3 ("Identification of Ownerless Property"), the occupation authorities can collect information about allegedly ownerless property from both legal entities and private individuals. These private individuals can submit statements in any format.
This effectively opens the door for pro-Russian collaborators or opportunistic neighbors to report on homes and apartments owned by people who fled the occupation, enabling the authorities to seize those properties. It’s likely that the occupiers deliberately included private individuals in the list of "sources of information" to encourage this kind of betrayal.
Back in April 2024, the occupation government of Kherson Oblast approved a procedure for seizing abandoned homes. According to this document, occupiers can confiscate residential houses, apartments, and even individual rooms if they are not registered in the Russian Unified State Register of Real Estate — a system impossible for most Ukrainians to access from outside occupied territory.
Since June 2024, it has also become known that the occupation authorities created a list of properties they consider "ownerless" and subject to transfer to Russian-controlled authorities.
The goals of this policy are clear. First, to create a housing stock for newly arrived Russians and for locals presented as "victims of Ukrainian aggression." Second, to pressure displaced Ukrainians to return to the occupied territories out of fear of losing their homes.
At this point, it’s impossible to know how many Kherson residents have been forced to return simply to try to save their property. But as of late 2024, the occupiers have already included over a thousand properties in the list of real estate subject to seizure — covering nearly every settlement on the left bank of Kherson Oblast. These properties include private homes, apartments, and commercial real estate.
Housing Compensation — but Not for Everyone
"The so-called 'nationalization' of property by Russians and the transfer of homes and other real estate to new owners in occupied Ukrainian territories is absolutely illegal and constitutes a crime of the invaders," explains Nataliia Kozhina, a lawyer and executive director of the Sich Human Rights Group based in Dnipro.
She notes that people who were left homeless after the Russian military destroyed the Kakhovka Dam — and who were subsequently placed by the occupiers into "nationalized" properties — need to understand that, after de-occupation, these homes will be returned to their rightful owners.
"Those who lost their homes in the flood and were moved into someone else’s property by the occupiers should keep any documents they have on their destroyed homes, if they managed to save them. These documents will be needed to claim assistance from Ukraine. After all, these people are victims of Russian aggression too."
Kozhina emphasizes that in late 2024, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed and sent to the president a draft law providing compensation for homes lost due to Russian occupation. However, this compensation will apply only to properties located in territories occupied by Russia since 2022 and after.
Still, as the lawyer points out, a final decision on what to do with property in territories temporarily occupied by Russia will only be possible once those areas are liberated.
*Names have been changed
