Duma considers law on the confiscation of Ukrainian property in occupied regions
The Russian Duma has passed a law on the confiscation of Ukrainian property in occupied regions
19.11.2025
Article published on the moscowtimes.ru website
According to TASS, the Duma has approved at first reading a draft law allowing for the transfer to State ownership of housing deemed to be “ownerless” by Russian authorities in the occupied parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. The bill sets out the mechanism for allocating housing expropriated from Ukrainians who have fled the war to other individuals or representatives of the occupying authorities.
The text also states that residential homes, apartments and rooms which show “signs of having been abandoned” will become the property of the “new” regions of the Russian Federation, and may later be allocated to local residents whose houses have been destroyed or rendered uninhabitable as a result of military action or “acts of aggression against the Russian Federation”.
Authorities appointed by Moscow will also have the right to grant ownership, or use of such properties, to Russian citizens under a special tenancy agreement in accordance with the Federation’s Housing Code. Furthermore, nationalised properties may be used to house local residents in need of somewhere to live (under a social lease agreement).
The bill also sets out the conditions and procedure for compensating “Russian citizens who have lost ownership of such residential homes”, and the rules for transferring confiscated property to them.
In addition, the draft legislation allows for the transfer of “ownerless” real estate to federal ownership of the Russian Federation. It will also be possible to transfer “critically important infrastructure facilities, building and other enterprise assets vital to the smooth running of economic and employment sectors” to Moscow in areas where Ukrainian Government agencies operated after 30 September 2022.
Under the bill, expropriated apartments and homes can be allocated to regional officials, as well as employees of subordinate institutions, including teachers and health workers, up until 1 January 2028.
The legislative text put forward by the Federation’s Construction Ministry was approved by a legal commission at the end of October. The Ministry also proposed amending federal constitutional laws on the incorporation of regions seized from Ukraine into the Russian Federation by adding the necessary legal provisions.
According to the bill, housing will be deemed “ownerless” if it has no valid title documents, or the owner cannot be identified.
