\n<\/p>\n
Officially, those whose houses have been destroyed or demolished can apply to get a flat in the newbuild estates going up.<\/p>\n
Both Russian state TV and pro-Kremlin YouTube channels routinely show apparently happy families moving into their new homes.<\/p>\n
Yet many locals, including the ones we spoke to, report that the process is agonisingly slow, and there are many restrictions in practice, resulting in the new buildings standing half-empty.<\/p>\n
Svetlana (not her real name) says her grandmother is still waiting for a flat to replace the one she lost when her building was pulled down, months after being notified that she would get her new flat in March.<\/p>\n
“People are put on some kind of waiting list and don’t know where they’ll get a flat,” Svetlana, who left to live abroad after the war, told the BBC.<\/p>\n
Alexander told the BBC that he believes flats are being given out “very sparingly and very selectively” to people who are “clearly of pro-Russian views”.<\/p>\n
A common reason for refusal – widely reported by Mariupol residents online – is if someone owns property other than their demolished flat, even a plot of land, a share in a flat or holiday cottage in the country.<\/p>\n
One woman whose block was demolished, Anna, told local pro-Russian TV station Mariupol 24 she was denied a replacement flat because she owns an 8 sqm shed in a village 40km outside the city.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n