Residents of occupied Mariupol face a July deadline to obtain Russian title deeds or risk losing their homes under a new law that human rights advocates say is designed to cement Russia's territorial claims. The requirement mandates in-person applications, though many Ukrainian owners have been blocked from returning to the city.

The law targets a city where Russia's brutal 86-day siege in 2022 damaged or destroyed up to 90% of residential buildings. The Kremlin has built roughly 5,000 new apartments and declared housing problems solved, but the Russian authorities now deem about 13,000 apartments "abandoned" and subject to seizure. Seventy-five percent of new units have been purchased by people from Russia.

Human Rights Watch identified roughly 8,000 court cases filed by occupation authorities from March 2024 to January 2026 seeking to confiscate properties. "The ultimate goal is to force as many people as possible to become Russian citizens," said Yulia Gorbunova, a senior researcher at the organization. "What Russia is trying to do is present this picture to the world as a fait accompli."