At the end of March 2024, the occupation authorities of the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Kherson regions of Ukraine announced that the owners of housing located in these territories must register their ownership of residential real estate in the “Unified State Register of Real Estate” (Russian: “Единый государственный реестр недвижимости”) of the Russian Federation. In the absence of a corresponding entry in the register, or if the residential property has signs of “ownerlessness” (non-use, non-payment of utility bills during the year), it will be seized (appropriated) by the so-called municipal authorities of the Russian occupation authorities. In this regard, there have been increasing cases of Ukrainians attempting to travel to the TOT of Ukraine through the territory of the Russian Federation to prevent the seizure of their property.
In order to enter the data into the said register, in order to preserve property rights, it is required to arrive in the TOT of Ukraine and then apply with a Russian passport to enter the relevant data into the register. In this way, the aggressor country is forcing Ukrainians to return to the TOT and obtain Russian passports. Russia continues to impose Russian citizenship on Ukrainians, and this practice is widespread and systematic.
Due to the risks of the occupiers taking away housing located in the TOT of Ukraine, the number of appeals to the Coalition organizations has increased. Therefore, we consider it necessary to express our position on the actions of the Russian occupation authorities in the TOT of Ukraine, as well as to provide recommendations to Ukrainian citizens who own property in the TOT.
1) The right of ownership of real estate located in the TOT is guaranteed and protected by Ukrainian legislation and international law. According to Article 41 of the Constitution of Ukraine and Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights, no one shall be unlawfully deprived of his or her property. The right to private property is inviolable. According to Article 11 of the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Citizens and the Legal Regime in the Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine”, individuals retain ownership and other property rights to real estate located in the TOT of Ukraine, and the acquisition and termination of ownership of such property is carried out in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine and outside the TOT.
Any changes to the legal status and title of housing may be made only in the territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine, by decision of the state registrar of real rights to real estate and by making appropriate changes to the State Register of Real Property Rights. Any actions taken by the occupying authorities in relation to housing in the TOT of Ukraine are invalid and do not entail any legal consequences.
2) Ukraine does not recognize and will never recognize the legitimacy of the seizure of real estate by the occupation authorities of the Russian Federation. According to the occupation “legislation”, the right of communal ownership of an ownerless residential property is established by a court decision and is then subject to state registration. However, any documents issued by the occupation authorities have no legal force in Ukraine and are invalid. This includes court decisions recognizing housing as ownerless. Therefore, the decision of the occupation court to recognize a dwelling as ownerless and transfer it to municipal ownership does not create legal consequences in Ukraine, nor does it deprive a person of the right to ownership of his or her dwelling located in the TOT of Ukraine.
3) The actions of the occupation authorities of the Russian Federation in the TOT of Ukraine to confiscate the real estate of Ukrainian citizens are a crime. Russia has violated international humanitarian law by extending its legislation to the TOT of Ukraine and taking away (expropriating) residential real estate. The confiscation of residential real estate by declaring it ownerless and transferring it to the communal ownership of the occupation structures is a violation of international humanitarian law. In the context of an international armed conflict, the appropriation of real estate that is illegal and not justified by military necessity is considered a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions of 1949. In addition, widespread destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and committed unlawfully constitutes a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. These actions are also subject to criminal liability under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (“Violation of the Laws and Customs of War”). Similarly, coercion to obtain Russian citizenship is a violation of the laws and customs of war.
4) Returning to the TOT of Ukraine for the sake of “re-registration” of real estate threatens the lives and health of Ukrainian citizens. The only checkpoint in the Russian Federation for Ukrainian citizens is Sheremetyevo Airport (Moscow, Russia). Returning to the TOT through it is accompanied by significant security risks. Citizens of Ukraine are forced to stay for a long time (sometimes up to several days) in the Sheremetyevo border control zone to undergo “filtration”. Personal belongings (including phones and other equipment) are thoroughly checked, and people are questioned about their connections and contacts in Ukraine, about relatives and friends. Often, Ukrainian citizens are unable to pass the “filtration” and are instead banned from entering the Russian Federation, which also becomes a reason for deportation.
On the territory of the Russian Federation and the TOT of Ukraine, Ukrainian citizens can be illegally detained by the occupation authorities and special services of the Russian Federation, there is a risk of torture, accusations of espionage or cooperation with intelligence agencies. One of the many examples is the case of Lenia Umerova, a 25-year-old Crimean woman who was detained by Russian security forces on December 4, 2022, after crossing the Georgian-Russian border when she tried to return to the temporarily occupied Crimea to care for her father, who has cancer. The Lefortovo court in Moscow arrested Umerova on charges of espionage.
Traveling to the TOT is not prohibited by Ukrainian law, but it can pose significant risks to the personal safety, life and health of Ukrainian citizens. It is impossible to predict or prevent the actions of the occupation authorities.
We are convinced that the actions of the occupation authorities of the Russian Federation to confiscate the real estate of Ukrainian citizens in the TOT not only violate Ukrainian legislation and international law, but also constitute a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. No actions of the occupation authorities in relation to housing in the TOT of Ukraine are recognized by Ukraine and the world, so the ownership of Ukrainian citizens and property located in the TOT is preserved.
We urge Ukrainian citizens to refrain from traveling to the TOT of Ukraine and the territory of the Russian Federation, obtaining a Russian passport in order to “re-register” their real estate. Although such trips do not violate Ukrainian law, they may endanger the lives and health of Ukrainian citizens.
In order to properly record and investigate the criminal seizure of real estate in the TOT, we recommend
- monitor what is happening to housing in the TOT of Ukraine and collect information about it. It is worth keeping a notebook or an electronic document with the date of the seizure (expropriation) of real estate and any other facts that will help establish the chronology of events, and subsequently the fact of violation of property rights to real estate;
- check the data on the ownership of residential real estate, since for technical reasons the State Register of Real Property Rights may not contain information on ownership. In case of absence, it is necessary to take steps to enter the data into the State Register of Ukraine. The availability of information in the said register will be useful in case of loss of documents confirming ownership. At the same time, we emphasize that the absence of data in the register does not deprive a person of the right of ownership.
- to apply to the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine (national police or prosecutor’s office) with a statement on the commission of a criminal offense under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (“Violation of the laws and customs of war”) or report the violation via the website https://warcrimes.gov.ua/, as the imposition of Russian legislation and the illegal seizure of property in the TOT of Ukraine are crimes.
May 9, 2024
ZMINA Human Rights Center
NGO “Public Holding “GROUP OF INFLUENCE”
NGO “Donbas SOS”
CO Charitable Foundation “Stabilization Support Services”
NGO “CRIMSOS”
CF “Right to Protection”
CF “Vostok SOS”
Crimean human rights group