Russia uses subsidized mortgages to drive population replacement in Mariupol, report says

Prefer on Google by Yuliia Taradiuk Construction workers rebuild a destroyed residential building in the Russian-controlled Azov Sea port city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine on July 15, 2025, amid the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war. (Olga Martseva / AFP via Getty Images) Russians account for 75% of buyers of newly built homes in occupied Mariupol, a new report says, while many local residents remain without housing after Russia destroyed their homes early in the full-scale war. The report , published on April 21 by Mariupol's city council, which has operated in exile since Russia occupied the city in 2022, says that the Russian occupation authorities continue to build residential buildings using mortgages for subsequent sale. Citing Sergey Mityagin, director general of Russia's Unified Institute of Spatial Planning, the report says that 75% of apartments are bought by Russians, while only 25% are bought by residents of Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia. (Russians) understood that it isn't enough to simply erode Ukrainian identity — Ukrainians had to be replaced with Russians. Most of the Russian buyers come from Moscow and Moscow Oblast, as well as the Volga, Northwestern, Ural, and Siberian federal districts and southern Russia. "The occupiers are trying to attract Russians to move to Mariupol by offering low mortgage interest rates," the report said. Petro Andriushchenko, former Mariupol mayoral advisor and head of the Center for the Study of Occupation, said that most housing construction programs in Russian-occupied territories are funded either partially or entirely by the Russian government, so buying housing there is largely promoted in Russia. "Warm climate, access to the sea, and 2% mortgage are the main attractions," Andriushchenko said. He added that 64 buildings are under construction in Mariupol, with more than a dozen developers involved. While Russians are buying housing to further move to occupied Mariupol, local residents remain under scrutiny, with their homes destroyed during Russian bombings and strikes on Mariupol in 2022 or demolished by Russians after the occupation. Mariupol's city council reported that approximately 18,000 out of the total number of Ukrainians living there remain without their houses and apartments. "Residents have repeatedly recorded video appeals at the sites of the mortgage constructions, demanding that the promised 'compensation housing' be built, but the occupiers are ignoring these demands," the city council wrote. Andriushchenko said this number may be higher, amounting to 22,000 Mariupol residents without homes. He said that of those, only about 4,500 people had their eligibility for housing compensation confirmed and were placed on the waiting list, while others were denied. Those who lost their homes live with relatives or friends, move to their summerhouses, or, in some cases, move into apartments belonging to people who no longer live in Mariupol. The Kremlin's attempts to resettle occupied territories with Russian citizens reflect Russia's attempts at population replacement. "(Russians) understood that it isn't enough to simply erode Ukrainian identity — Ukrainians had to be replaced with Russians," Andriushchenko said. Russian authorities aim to relocate nearly 114,000 citizens to occupied Ukrainian territories by 2045, pro-Kremlin publication Vedomosti reported on March 17, citing government plans for the development of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts. A woman walks along a street past destroyed houses in the Russian-occupied Mariupol on July 16, 2025. (Olga Maltseva / AFP via Getty Images) The housing situation worsened further in December 2025, when Russian President Vladimir Putin effectively legalized property theft in Ukraine's occupied territories with a decree granting authorities the power to seize residential premises that "show signs of being ownerless." In many cases, the owners of such properties either fled or were killed during Russia's full-scale invasion. Andriushchenko said the law "officially legalized the process," giving occupation authorities the power to "seize anyone's property at their own discretion, simply by refusing to accept the ownership documents." Denis Pushilin, the head of the Russian illegal occupation administration in Donetsk Oblast , claimed on April 22 that the administration will seize the homes of Ukrainians who have left Mariupol. This property is planned to be distributed to those Ukrainians whom the authorities promised to restore apartments but failed. On March 11, Ukraine's National Resistance Center reported that the occupation authorities in Mariupol were disconnecting apartments from utilities as part of a process to identify and confiscate housing.