BBC Investigation: More Than 34,000 Ukrainian Properties Seized or Targeted for Confiscation by Russia in Occupied Territories

An investigation by BBC Verify and BBC Russian has found that more than 34,000 properties owned by Ukrainian citizens have been seized or placed on confiscation lists in Russian-occupied areas.

Moscow-installed authorities are declaring homes “ownerless” and then transferring them to people with Russian passports or using them for the purposes of the occupation administration.

The data analyzed show that, since 2024, 34,002 apartments, houses and holiday homes have been identified in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. The list does not include only residential properties, as thousands of businesses, including offices and hotels, have also been targeted.

One of the cases documented by the investigation is that of Ihor Ivashchuk, an evangelical pastor from Melitopol. He left the city in 2022, following the Russian occupation, to secure medical treatment for his wife.

Before leaving, Ivashchuk entrusted the house to a friend. In late 2024, the friend was confronted by armed people in military uniforms who demanded the property ownership documents. Several months later, the friend was evicted, and the home was no longer registered in his name.

According to the BBC, Ukrainian owners usually receive no official notification when their property is classified as “ownerless.” To protect it from confiscation, they must obtain Russian citizenship, personally return to the occupied territories within 30 days and undergo stringent security checks, which also expose them to the risk of arrest.

BBC Verify first reported this practice in Mariupol, where about 5,700 properties had been identified for seizure last year. Following this, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law formalizing the procedure in the four illegally annexed regions.

The investigation also includes the story of a family from Mariupol. The owner’s daughter, identified by the pseudonym Ivanna for security reasons, said her father had built the house for her mother, who had cancer. For the family, it was a place bound up with their memories. However, in April, the occupation authorities told Ivanna’s grandparents that the property had been placed on the seizure list.

Documents verified by the BBC show that 61 homes in an apartment building in Mariupol have been declared “ownerless.” In the same area, the authorities have identified 393 apartments across 17 buildings for confiscation.

The data collected raise concerns about the scale of property confiscations in the occupied territories and the consequences this practice has for thousands of Ukrainian families forced to abandon their homes.