Occupation Authorities in Mariupol Seize Local Homes, Transfer to Russian Settlers (Video)

Chaos is spreading across the occupied city of Mariupol as the Russian-installed administration escalates a quiet but ruthless campaign of mass housing seizures targeting local Ukrainian residents. Reports from inside the city describe how apartments and homes are being labelled as “ownerless” and then redistributed or sold to newly arrived Russian citizens. Ukrainian residents, many of whom have lived in their homes for decades, are being shut out, their property rights erased without warning or due process.

A woman who lived in the same Mariupol apartment for over 30 years recounted her ordeal in a recent video. She, along with her daughter and five year old grandson, was barred from entering the property. Russian officials claimed the home was now “ownerless” and had changed the locks. Her husband had passed away in 2022, and the family’s documents were destroyed during shelling. For a year, she tried to prove ownership, but to no avail. Now, she must fight through Russian courts in a system built to deny her claim.

This is far from an isolated case. The occupation authorities are reportedly declaring apartments ownerless even when legal residents still live in them. They visit buildings, post notices on doors, and seize homes under the pretext of administrative procedures. Even when families show legal papers proving ownership or registration, they are ignored.

Worse still, entire buildings damaged in fighting are being “restored”, then readdressed and handed over to Russian settlers. Locals say their homes are now occupied by people from places like Buryatia and Perm. Refugees who fled Mariupol due to the war face an even harsher fate, as they cannot physically return to fight for their homes.

Ukrainian journalist and displaced Donetsk native Denis Kazansky has highlighted the situation on his Telegram channel, calling it “outright meanness” and labelling the seizures as systematic state theft. He notes that Mariupol residents, including those who remain in the city, are helpless in the face of an occupying authority that disregards property rights and uses bureaucratic tricks to legally dispossess people.

This abuse of power reveals the Kremlin’s real intentions under the banner of “liberation”. What was once called a humanitarian mission has instead become a forced demographic reshaping of a Ukrainian city, where Russians are brought in while Ukrainians are left homeless.