Foreign Ministry on Russia’s confiscation of property in temporarily occupied territories: Stolen property must be returned
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine emphasizes that the illegal expropriation by Russia and its occupation administrations of state, municipal, and private property in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine is unlawful and will be reversed in the future.
This is mentioned in a statement by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi regarding the confiscation of real estate in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine by the Russian occupation authorities, according to Censor.NET.
The Extermination of the Ukrainian People
"The scale of the looting during Russia's aggression against Ukraine is unprecedented. Ukraine will continue to use every national and international legal instrument to draw the world's attention to this issue and recover the stolen property. All instances of looting are subject to thorough documentation and will inevitably lead to the prosecution of those responsible and the return of property to its rightful owners," the statement reads.
Tikhyi emphasizes that Russia’s policy is aimed not merely at the expropriation of property, but at the deliberate destruction of the Ukrainian people, the Russification of Ukraine, and the theft of Ukrainian territories.
He noted that, under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, as well as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the forcible alteration of the ethnic composition of the population constitutes genocide if such acts are committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national group. A key condition for holding someone accountable for this crime is proving criminal intent.
"In this context, Russia's elevation of its colonial ambitions to the status of state programs, development strategies, or laws significantly simplifies this phase of the work for Ukrainian and international justice," the spokesperson said.
You'll have to return what you stole
According to Tykhyi, the illegal expropriation by Russia and its occupation administrations of state, municipal, and private property in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine is null and void, does not confer any legal grounds for ownership of the property on anyone other than the rightful owners, and will be subject to annulment in the future.
"We remind Russia and every Russian thief: what has been stolen must be returned," he emphasized.
Russia is altering the demographics of the temporarily occupied territories
As noted, the Russian authorities continue to grossly violate the norms of international humanitarian law by deliberately altering the demographics of Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories and settling them with migrants from the Russian Federation and citizens of foreign countries, particularly from regions in Central Asia, Africa, and the Caucasus.
"Russian lawlessness is depriving Ukrainians of their homes twice over: first by forcing them to leave the occupied territories, and later by seizing the homes that remain under occupation. Russia began this criminal policy back in 2014, and is now scaling up the looting through state programs and legislative initiatives," Tykhyi said.
Дослідження Human Rights Watch
He also thanked human rights activists for drawing the world’s attention to Russia’s crimes in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. In particular, a report by the human rights organization Human Rights Watch exposes the details of fictitious procedures introduced by the Russian occupation authorities to declare property "ownerless" for the purpose of subsequent confiscation. The HRW report documents in detail the illegal campaign to "re-register" real estate, which is based on a series of unlawful and impossible-to-fulfill requirements imposed on the legal owners.
The important evidence gathered by Human Rights Watch as part of this project will be used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government institutions to protect the rights of Ukrainian citizens in national and international courts and to hold those responsible for the unlawful expropriation of property accountable.
"Moscow is essentially repeating the same crimes it committed in the last century, when people were forced to move into the homes of repressed 'enemies of the people,'" the spokesperson said.
