How Russia seizes homes in occupied Ukraine | Global News Podcast

Welcome to the global news podcast from. the BBC here on YouTube. I'm Valerie. Sanderson and with me is Olga Robinson. from BBC Verify. And Olga, you've been. investigating a story which is all about. tens of thousands of homes in occupied. Ukraine being seized by Russia. Tell us. what you found. >> So yes, indeed, my team spent the past. six months looking into various official.

documents published by Moscow-installed. authorities in four regions of Ukraine. and we found that more than 34,000. homes are currently in the process of. being seized by occupied authorities and. many of them belong to Ukrainians who. have fled the fighting. And it. effectively works like this. Properties. are declared ownerless and then they're. transferred to the occupation. authorities and from there they can be. redistributed to somebody else and those.

people will have to be Russian citizens. And it's not just some local initiative. that only exists in the occupied. Ukraine. It has been officially endorsed. by Russian President Vladimir Putin. because he signed a law in late December. last year that formalizes this process. across all four occupied Ukrainian. regions. >> I know you've been talking to people. there. Tell us some of their stories. >> One of the people we had to change her. name, her pseudonym that we're using is.

Ivanna. She's a young woman from. Mariupol and her family fled in the. early days of the full-scale invasion, but her grandparents, as is very, very. common. in Ukraine, they stayed. They decided. not to leave. And she told us a. quite heartbreaking story. Her father built a house for her mother. um, years ago she was just diagnosed. with cancer and they were they were told.

that it's best to take her out of. Mariupol itself and maybe um, some fresh. air would help her. So, they built this. house just outside of Mariupol. Um, it. became their family home. Unfortunately, the mother passed away soon after they. finished um, the construction. And then this year in April. officials came, the occupation. authorities. um, officials came and told the. grandparents who still live there.

that this. house has been identified for seizure. And that's because the owner is the. father. who's fled Ukraine. And the grandparents, even though they. do have Russian passports, they do not. have ownership rights to this property. And so, they're now facing the. possibility of being evicted from this. property. And at the same time, as Ivana put it. it's not the very fact that they're just.

losing physical property that she finds. really disturbing. It's the fact that. it's their memories as well. It's all. going. It's the place where their mother. lived. It's the place of her childhood. memories. Um, and she almost came across. as resigned to the idea that it will. likely be lost. >> Why are the Russians doing this? >> Well, experts we spoke to say that most. likely this is part of much wider. efforts to Russify the area, to kind of.

solidify. the Russian control of it. Um, and they. say it's done partly in order to. make sure that it's much harder for. Ukrainians to reintegrate these regions, should they ever reclaim the territory. Just making it physically really. possible, but also from the legal. perspective it sounds like it's a. nightmare because there are legal owners. in Ukraine, but there are also. quasi-legal owners from the Russian. perspective, um even though there are. question marks from the international.

law point of view about the whole. scheme. And then, at the same time, uh. experts told us that the scheme is meant. to also create the impression to the. domestic population in Russia that we're. here to stay, we're here for good. Um. and we did um. ask for comment from the Russian. government and they said that the scheme. is part of um. their legal framework to integrate the. reunited regions, as they put it,

into the Russian system, but also that. the scheme manages properties whose. owners cannot be identified or contacted. while providing for compensation should. lawful owners come forward. I think a. very important caveat here that in all. the legislation we've looked through. related to the scheme, it's only Russian. passport holders who can claim any kind. of compensation. >> A lot of people listening to this, Olga, will think, "What do you mean by. Russification?" Because this goes back a.

long way, doesn't it? >> Well, Russian efforts to solidify their. control of territories, they come almost. in two different ways. One is very. visible, Russian flags being installed, statues, renaming streets, uh but also at the same time, they tend. to whenever they've captured a. territory, what we very often start. seeing is change of curriculums at. schools, the effective ban of Ukrainian. language in schools in occupied. territories, but also media. They bring.

their own media and you can very often. see on Russian state TV channels the. local branches of um their media being. um being introduced and launched. straight away. >> You're half Ukrainian, half Russian. yourself, I mean, we should say that. these are countries that have a huge. shared history and shared cultural. values and often. intertwined in terms of family, aren't. they? >> Oh, 100%. I.

I grew up in a kind of mixed. Russian-Ukrainian. households. and always like went spent my summers in. Ukraine with my grandparents and and. near Kyiv and. I have. a lot of memories associated with. with Ukraine. And for me, I remember. just having a complete cognitive. dissonance when the full-scale invasion. happened. There are so many families in. Russia and in Ukraine who have relatives.

back in in the other country and it's so. difficult to you know, it's been nearly. 5 years and I still sometimes catch. myself thinking I still can't believe. this is true. This is what what this is. happening. But I also worry. as a person who has heritage in both. countries. what this in full-scale invasion has. done to the future relations because.

because a lot of my. friends and people I know. back in Ukraine. they just have on multiple occasions. told me that I just can't see. how I can ever forgive Russians for what. they've done. And that's, you know, that potentially means like even if the. war is over in the next. years or months. we will still be dealing with the. repercussions of it for possibly decades.

to come. >> Where does this leave Ukrainians who've. lost their homes? I mean, this is all. about people, isn't it? This is about. human stories as as you know, you. outlined when we started this. conversation. >> Well, we were speaking to one pastor who. um lives in Well, he comes from the city. of Melitopol, but he had to flee at the. in the first few months of the. full-scale invasion. And his property is currently going. through the seizure process.

And he's almost resigned to the idea. that. his property might be lost. And in fact, when. his friend who was a lodger contacted. him in 2024 and said somebody came and. was asking about property rights. and who lives here and where the owner. is. He He told us, "I just felt that it's. just a matter of time until they take it. away. But at the same time, he still has.

hope. And he told us that. "I don't know if me or my family will. ever see. this home again, but I'd love to.". >> Olga, thank you. That was Olga Robinson. from BBC Verify. If you want to find out. more about this story, just listen to. our podcast, The Global News Podcast. Click on the link below. But that's it. from this edition of The Global News. Podcast here on YouTube. Thanks for. listening. Thanks for watching. Join us. again next time. Bye for now.