Russia’s latest crime in Mariupol: stealing property

OVER THE past few months, little white notices have appeared on doorways to residential blocks all over Mariupol, a city besieged, wrecked and then seized by Russia in May 2022. “An inventory of your block will be carried out to identify ownerless property; the owner of the apartment should be at home with documents and a Russian passport.” The print is small, the implications large. Unless the apartments are re-registered with the Russian occupying authorities and people are living in them, the properties will soon be declared ownerless and sold.