Donetsk IDPs Face Potential Loss Of Homes Under Separatist ‘Nationalization’ Policy

An attempt to “nationalize” so-called “ownerless” real estate in parts of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region controlled by pro-Russian separatists has become the latest challenge for Kyiv’s struggle to exert authority over the area. Many of these residences are owned by those who fled to Ukrainian-controlled territory, and did not or will not register their property with the de facto separatist authorities. As in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Moldova’s own territorial disputes, the fate of these houses could prove a further source of bitter division between the two sides.