Reconstruction of housing in occupied territories: how they plan to change the compensation scheme
This has been reported by MP Pavlo Frolov. The Verkhovna Rada’s official document confirms that Bill No. 13136 concerns amendments to the law on compensation for damaged and destroyed immovable property.
The e-Restoration programme remains effectively inaccessible to a significant proportion of Ukrainians who have lost their homes in the temporarily occupied territories.
The reason is simple: to receive compensation, the state must confirm the fact of the destruction or damage to the property. However, Ukrainian commissions are physically unable to access the occupied territories.
Bill No. 13136 proposes to resolve this issue through remote surveys of destroyed housing in the temporarily occupied territories. This involves the use of satellite imagery, drones and other sources of photographic and video evidence.
For people, this means the opportunity to at least officially record the loss of their home and join the queue for compensation, without having to wait for the de-occupation of the settlement.
Who might be affected by the change
Pavlo Frolov stated that the Cabinet of Ministers has already allocated funding for 3,300 housing vouchers for IDPs who are Ukrainian military personnel.
However, according to him, the actual scale of the problem is much greater: over 3 million Ukrainians have lost their homes in the temporarily occupied territories.
That is why the MP emphasises: even in the face of a shortage of budgetary resources, the state must, by law, give people the right to record the destruction or loss of property so that they can claim compensation.
Who is Pavlo Frolov
Pavlo Frolov is a Member of Parliament and Chair of the Verkhovna Rada’s Temporary Special Commission on the Protection of Property and Non-Property Rights of Internally Displaced Persons and Other Individuals Affected by Russia’s Armed Aggression against Ukraine.
According to Frolov, it was this TSC that drafted Bill No. 13136, which is intended to comprehensively resolve the issue of compensation for people with homes in the temporarily occupied territories.
What will happen to completely destroyed cities
A separate section of the draft law concerns cities that have suffered total destruction.
According to the Verkhovna Rada, cities such as Popasna, Bakhmut, Soledar, Maryinka and others may, by government decision, be classified as not requiring additional inspections to obtain e-certificates.
Put simply, if a town has been virtually destroyed by the war, the state may not require people to undergo separate commission inspections of every flat or house.
This is important for residents of settlements where the scale of destruction is evident but access to housing is not available.
Compensation from 2014
The draft law also proposes extending the compensation mechanism to housing destroyed or damaged since the start of the Russian aggression – from 19 February 2014.
This is crucial for people from Crimea, parts of Donbas and other territories who lost their homes even before the full-scale invasion.
According to Frolov, priority should be given to families who have lost their only home.
What about undamaged housing in the temporarily occupied territories
Another important aspect concerns housing located in the temporarily occupied territories but which is not formally destroyed.
According to Frolov, the draft law creates a legal basis for future payments for such property as well.
This is a more complex issue, as the state must determine how to compensate people for the loss of access to housing that may physically exist but is effectively inaccessible to owners due to the occupation.
What else does the bill change?
According to an analysis by civil society organisations, Bill No. 13136 also proposes extending the deadline for applying for compensation after the termination or lifting of martial law from one to three years.
Furthermore, the aim of the bill is to improve the mechanism for compensation and the registration of immovable property damaged or destroyed as a result of Russian aggression. The Rada’s official summary states that the document amends the law on compensation for damage to and destruction of certain categories of immovable property, as well as the State Register of Damaged and Destroyed Property.
For millions of displaced persons from the temporarily occupied territories, the issue of compensation still faces a legal impasse: homes have been destroyed or lost, but the state cannot carry out a standard inspection.
Bill No. 13136 aims to break this cycle. It does not mean automatic payments to everyone right now, but it provides a mechanism for the first step – the official recording of the loss of housing and the inclusion of the person in the compensation system.
This is precisely why the issue of remote surveys is important not only for Bakhmut, Mariupol, Popasna or Soledar. It concerns everyone who has lost access to their home due to the occupation and is still unable to use e-Restoration.
Bill No. 13136 was registered in the Verkhovna Rada on 26 March 2025. On 27 August 2025, a draft resolution on its adoption as a basis was registered.
The document still has to go through the parliamentary procedure. Only after the law is passed and the implementing mechanisms are launched will it become clear exactly how remote surveys will work and who will be the first to receive certificates.
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