How and When to Receive Compensation for Housing Destroyed or Damaged During the War: Algorithm

By violating the laws and customs of war, human and moral values, as well as all the commandments of God, Russia continues to destroy everything in its path and damage the infrastructure of Ukraine.

On March 24, 2022, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine registered a draft law “On compensation for damage and destruction of certain categories of real estate as a result of hostilities, terrorist acts, sabotage caused by military aggression of the Russian Federation” №7198, which is already being prepared for second reading.

According to the UN Satellite Center, which showed the degree of destruction of Irpin region, Irpin suffered the most – 71%. Destruction in Gostomel covers 58% of the territory, in Bucha – 26%. The most destroyed, according to the UN, was the village of Gorenka: there is damage to almost 78% of the village. The conditional west of Kyiv, which is adjacent to the destroyed Irpin and Gorenka, suffered by 1.4%.

The list of destroyed or damaged real estate for which citizens will receive compensation is as follows:

• apartments;
• private houses (including country houses and garden buildings);
• other premises for which the right of ownership is registered, objects of investment.

After the deoccupation of Irpin, Bucha and Gostomel, which resisted the Second World War, the cities began to return to life. The temporary crossing from Kyiv to Irpin and the Zhytomyr highway have already started, most of the cities have been cleared and demined, water and electricity have been restored in some places, the Internet is being restored, and despite official permission, people are returning to the cities. What they saw shocked them, but the Ukrainian authorities promise to rebuild or compensate for everything. The editorial board of Irpinsky Visnyk talked to lawyers and asked about all the details of the procedures announced by the authorities.

So, what can Irpin region residents expect and what should they do in the first place after returning home?

1. Collect documents and evidence

To receive compensation, you must confirm ownership of housing. This requires documents on ownership of property. However, any others are also suitable, where the characteristics are also specified: technical passport, descriptions, permits for redevelopment, drawings, etc. If all documents have been lost, an extract from the State Register of Real Property Rights should be obtained. The registry is currently open, although it is malfunctioning.

The second important step is to gather evidence that your home was indeed damaged or destroyed. Lawyers recommend that you make a photo and video recording yourself and be sure to indicate the date and time and add a brief description of the events in the notes. If you are not able to capture in this way – save screenshots of news in the media. Be sure to collect the testimony of neighbors or eyewitnesses: in general, any information found. The more materials – the better. Important: good quality is required.

2. Inform the authorities of the fact of damage or destruction of real estate

In case of fire or destruction of the house, it is necessary to call employees of the State Emergency Service, draw up an appropriate act indicating the cause of damage to property and get a copy.

Then you need to apply for compensation. This can be done through the “Dia” application, through a notary or the Center for Administrative Services. This rule is prescribed in the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers, which stipulates the procedure for submitting such information messages. This document states that you can apply without being tied to the place of residence, so migrants will be able to take advantage of this opportunity.

To do this, the applicant must specify:

• last name, first name and patronymic;
• registration number of the taxpayer’s account card or, in its absence, series, passport number, place and date of its issuance;
• means of communication;
• information on the damaged or destroyed object (address, area and other data from the title document (if any); in case of loss of the object of investment in housing construction – the relevant agreement;
• number of co-owners and residents;
• description of damages (complete or partial destruction) and evidence (if any) that the applicant has at the time of application: photo, act of the State Emergency Service; extract from the Unified register of pre-trial investigations, etc.

The application is submitted for each object separately. An application submitted by one of the co-owners is considered submitted by all co-owners.

Possible types of compensation:

• monetary compensation by transferring funds to the current account of the recipient with a special target mode of use;
• financing the construction of a new real estate object with an equivalent area, but not exceeding the cost of 150 m2 for each object (the cost of 1 m2 of the real estate area is calculated according to the methodology determined by the Cabinet of Ministers);
• financing the restoration of damaged property.

Compensation is determined for each real estate item separately.

The application can be submitted free of charge during martial law and within 90 calendar days from the date of its termination in the territory where the damaged or destroyed real estate is located. After that, the real estate object is inspected, a relevant act is drawn up and the applicant is provided with a certificate recognizing the person as a victim of an emergency situation.

The registration of the application for compensation is carried out automatically by the software of the register of damaged and destroyed property. Subsequently, depending on the method of obtaining compensation, the applicant either applies for payment to the card account, or finances new construction.

In the case of unlawful refusal to compensate for property lost during the war or to establish the fact of death or any other necessary legal facts in order to prove their right to adequate compensation, citizens can go to court.

3. Demand compensation in international courts

It will also be possible to file lawsuits and demand compensation from Russia in international courts, but this method is less effective. Lawyers explain that after the court decision, it will have to be enforced, and this can be done only in the EU. It should be noted that the execution of a court decision is a lengthy procedure. In addition, there is a high probability that Russia will not have enough assets to recover a large number of lawsuits, which may result in the plaintiff being denied a court decision.

Instead, lawyers say it will be much easier to get compensation from Ukraine.

It is worth noting that Ukrainian citizens will be able to receive compensation for lost or damaged property only after the end of the war. At present, the main and important thing is to collect and submit all the necessary documents.

According to estimates by experts and estimates involved by the Irpin Investment Council, the Irpin Fund needs about $ 850 million to restore the destroyed or damaged housing (including destroyed and damaged apartments and private houses). At the same time, the cost of rebuilding the destroyed city infrastructure is about $ 150 million. Thus, $ 1 billion is needed to rebuild the entire infrastructure of the Irpin community after large-scale destruction by the occupiers.

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