Ukraine war: Russia gives away apartments in Luhansk to troops and Central Asian migrants

Occupation troops in the Russian-annexed Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine are preparing to hand over residential properties to military personnel, the Center of National Resistance in Kyiv said on Sunday.

Not only would apartments be handed over to Moscow’s occupation forces, but also to migrants from Central Asia, the center said.

The internationally unrecognized leadership in Luhansk is preparing appropriate laws. Many Ukrainians have fled the occupied territories and left their property behind.

Immigrants from Central Asia are used by Russia primarily as cheap labor – not least for the reconstruction of cities and villages destroyed by the war.

According to a statement from the center, the occupying forces confiscated abandoned houses during the war and transferred them to homeless people.

Civilians would also be forcibly relocated from areas near the front. Russian soldiers would then be housed in the civilian buildings, it was said.

Russian state employees in Luhansk receive abandoned apartments from Ukrainians to carry out administrative duties in the occupied territories, the center said. Such apartments and houses are offered for sale at low prices.

“The Kremlin is promoting such resettlements because it wants to completely Russify the occupied territories,” the statement said.

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The occupiers refused to recognize the ownership documents issued under Ukrainian law. Instead, they demanded that the ownership be formalized under Russian law. Homeowners would then be forced to first apply for a Russian passport and then go through Russian legal procedures.

The center stressed that Russia’s actions were illegal and recommended that Ukrainian citizens keep original documents or certified copies of property deeds. The Ukrainian leadership has repeatedly announced its intention to recapture the annexed territories.

Ukrainian citizens were also expropriated on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. Numerous houses, including one belonging to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s family, were confiscated by the Russian state.