Russians have begun actively buying up homes in the devastated city of Mariupol
In Russian-occupied Mariupol, new residential complexes are being built on the sites of destroyed apartment buildings, and Russian citizens are actively purchasing apartments there. They plan to use some of the properties as their own homes and rent out the rest.
As the publication notes, residents of the new buildings on Metallurgiya Avenue communicate in online chat rooms.
They discuss having furniture shipped from Russia, choosing kindergartens and schools, and other everyday matters.
When registering their homes, new owners are reminded of the need to have Russian documents.
According to economist Vyacheslav Shiryaev, apartments in Mariupol’s new buildings are primarily purchased by people from Russia—Russian security officials, government officials, and military logistics personnel.
“In addition, there are those who simply want to live by the sea but cannot afford Crimea or Sochi,” he noted.
One of the factors driving demand for housing in the occupied city is preferential mortgage lending. In regions seized by Russia, Russian citizens are offered loans with an interest rate of 2% per year for the entire term of the loan.
The main requirement is Russian citizenship.
The maximum loan amount is 6 million rubles, and the minimum down payment is 2%.
Dozens of apartment buildings are currently under construction in Mariupol, a significant portion of which are already occupied. According to Russian banks, the city has become the leader in the volume of mortgage loans issued among the occupied territories.
At the same time, housing prices in Mariupol have risen by about a third over the past year. Among the reasons cited is, in particular, the city’s location by the sea.
An economist criticizes the quality of construction and the developers’ pricing policies.
“Construction companies are cutting corners wherever they can, yet they’re charging exorbitant prices,” he said.
Russia fully occupied Mariupol in May 2022. During months of fighting, Russian troops heavily shelled residential neighborhoods, hospitals, and other civilian infrastructure.
Thousands of civilians were killed as a result of the Russian aggression, and a significant part of the city suffered extensive destruction.
Currently, on the sites of the destroyed buildings, the occupying authorities have launched an active housing construction program, while encouraging Russian citizens to purchase real estate there.
This was reported by Deutsche Welle.
The Russian occupation authorities in Mariupol have added approximately 25,000 apartments and private homes to the lists of so-called “ownerless” housing, which they plan to transfer to municipal ownership. Property owners have been given until July 1, 2026, to confirm their rights to the housing.
Earlier, in the temporarily occupied city of Mariupol, the Russian administration began a mass redistribution of apartments belonging to local residents who had left the city due to the war or were unable to confirm their ownership rights because their documents had been destroyed.
In Mariupol, the occupiers have not paid the promised compensation for destroyed housing
In Mariupol, construction workers rebuilding the city are being systematically denied their wages.
