Svitlana Hrebenkova is accused of forced confiscation of real estate under the guise of combating "ownerless property"
The Main Directorate of the SBU in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions has issued a notice of suspicion to Svitlana Hrebenkova, the so-called head of the occupation administration in Alchevsk. She is accused of involvement in the illegal appropriation of private property belonging to Ukrainians. This was reported by Book of Torturers, according to the portal PromPolitInform.
The investigation established that between 2024 and 2025, the suspect directly participated in implementing an occupation mechanism that allowed for the seizure of housing from residents who could not personally confirm their ownership rights according to Russian standards. The property appropriation scheme was officially codified by the so-called Law No. 52-I of March 27, 2024, drafted by the occupation authorities of the Luhansk region in collusion with representatives of the rf.
Organization of the criminal scheme
The mechanism involved identifying apartments and houses whose owners were absent and publishing demands for them to appear with Russian documents within 30 days. If these demands were ignored, the real estate would pass into so-called municipal ownership through courts controlled by the occupiers. The seized property was subsequently distributed among members of Russian security agencies, including the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Guard, and the Ministry of Defence of the rf.
In Alchevsk, Svitlana Hrebenkova was responsible for implementing this process. On April 8, 2024, she issued Resolution No. 75-p, which created a special commission for registering and forcibly transferring housing to the occupation administration’s fund. Later, on May 5, 2025, the official approved the entry of at least 16 residential properties into the relevant register.
Legal assessment of the actions
Hrebenkova’s actions are classified as a violation of the laws and customs of war under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Investigators emphasize that the property confiscation was carried out without the consent of the owners, without any compensation, and was devoid of any military necessity.
Pre-trial investigation in this case is being conducted within the framework of criminal proceeding No. 22024130000000170, which was opened on March 6, 2024. Svitlana Hrebenkova, born in 1973, served as the first deputy head of Alchevsk until the spring of 2025, after which she became the head of the city’s occupation administration.
Photo: Book of Torturers
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