How to Report a Home Damaged or Destroyed by Russian Aggression in Ukraine

What should you do first after your home is damaged or destroyed?

Once it is safe, document what happened and submit an official information report about damaged or destroyed real estate.

The current Diia service is designed to record damage or destruction caused by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The report is entered into the official damaged and destroyed property system and creates a government record of the reported event.

You can start the process through the official Diia damaged property service.

Who can report a damaged home?

For the ordinary homeowner case, an individual who owns damaged or destroyed real estate can submit the report. The current Cabinet of Ministers procedure also covers additional qualifying categories, including certain construction customers, investors in qualifying construction projects, cooperative members who bought out a dwelling but did not complete ownership registration, and heirs in circumstances specified by the regulation.

The current legal framework in Resolution No. 380 applies to qualifying property damaged or destroyed because of Russian armed aggression from 19 February 2014.

The reporting rules are broader than the eligibility conditions for a particular compensation program. Whether you can later receive eRecovery compensation is decided under separate rules.

What types of property can be reported?

The current legal procedure covers buildings and separate parts of buildings that qualify as real estate, including residential property such as houses, apartments and other residential premises. It also covers garden and country houses and, in circumstances defined by the regulation, qualifying construction projects and their future separate premises.

For a typical household, this means you can use the service to report damage to a private house, apartment or other qualifying residential real estate.

This guide is limited to reporting a home. The government register also covers other categories of real estate, but commercial property, infrastructure and other specialist claims can involve different applicants and evidence.

What information should you provide?

The information report records both the property and what happened to it. Under the current procedure, the report can include:

• Your identifying information.
• The property's address and identifying details.
• The registration number of the real estate in the State Register of Rights, if available.
• The type and technical characteristics of the property where available.
• The form of ownership.
• Whether the property is partially damaged and usable, unusable or completely destroyed.
• The number of people who lived in the residential property.
• The date and approximate time of the damaging event.
• A description and extent of the damage.
• Photos or video, if available.

If property information is already held in the State Register of Rights to Real Estate, Diia may retrieve it automatically. The current Diia service states that when the information is not available there, you can enter information about the property yourself.

Do you need photos of the damage?

Photos and video are valuable evidence and should be added whenever you have them. The governing procedure expressly provides for photo and video records where available.

The current offline Diia instructions likewise tell applicants visiting a CNAP or notary to bring photos if they have them. Do not put yourself at risk merely to obtain photographs of a dangerous building.

How do you report damaged property online through Diia?

On the Diia portal, sign in to your citizen account using an electronic signature or BankID, open the damaged-property reporting service and complete the online form.

Enter or confirm the property information, describe the damage and provide available photos. Review the completed report before submitting it because you are responsible for the accuracy of the information.

The current Diia page estimates up to about 5 minutes to submit the report.

After submission, the report is registered and you receive confirmation through Diia.

Do you need a taxpayer number to use the Diia app?

Yes. Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 380 provides that submission through the Diia mobile application is available where the individual has an RNOCPP taxpayer registration number.

The web portal also supports electronic identification through the methods offered by Diia.

Can you report the damage without using Diia yourself?

Yes. You can submit the information through a CNAP administrator or a notary. The report can be submitted regardless of your current place of residence or stay.

According to the current Diia service instructions, bring:

• Your passport.
• Your RNOCPP taxpayer number.
• Photos of the damage, if available.
• An email address to receive the damaged-property report number.

The CNAP administrator or notary verifies your identity, completes the report using Diia and applies the required qualified electronic signature. You can ask for a printed copy of the registered report.

Diia advises checking in advance whether the particular CNAP you plan to visit currently accepts damaged-property reports.

Do you have to apply where the damaged home is located?

No. The governing procedure states that an information report can be submitted regardless of the individual's place of residence or stay.

This is particularly important for people who have evacuated or are internally displaced and cannot return to the community where the damaged home is located.

What if the home has several co-owners?

The current Diia guidance states that one co-owner can submit the initial damaged-property report; every co-owner does not need to file the same notification.

Do not confuse this rule with later compensation procedures. Diia currently notes that the owner who submitted the damage report should be the person who submits the related compensation application for that property under the applicable eRecovery route.

How much does it cost and how long does registration take?

The service is free.

The Diia online form takes up to about 5 minutes to complete. Under Resolution No. 380, a properly formed information report is considered received on the day it is submitted and is registered and stored through Diia.

The official Diia Guide lists the administrative service period as 1 calendar day.

How do you know the report was registered?

After a report is submitted, Diia automatically sends a notification confirming that the information report has been registered. If you submit through a CNAP or notary, you may request a printed copy of the registered report.

Keep the report information and confirmation because they can be needed when you move to a separate compensation procedure.

Can you edit a report after submitting it?

No. The current Diia service states that an already submitted damaged-property report cannot be edited.

If information needs to be corrected or updated, Diia instructs you to submit a new report for the same property containing the current information.

Does submitting the report automatically apply for compensation?

No. The initial information report and a compensation application are separate steps.

The report records that the property was damaged or destroyed. If you want compensation under the national eRecovery program and meet its eligibility rules, you must make a separate eRecovery compensation application.

The current Diia eRecovery compensation service explains that later compensation procedure. Its eligibility, inspection, payment and property-location conditions are separate from the simple act of reporting the damage.

Is this the same as a claim to the international Register of Damage?

No. Ukraine's information report about damaged or destroyed property is also distinct from an application to the international Register of Damage for Ukraine.

Diia now provides separate services for claims to that international register, including category A3.1 for residential real estate. Those claims concern an international reparations mechanism and should not be confused with this initial national damaged-property notification.

What mistakes should you avoid?

Use the correct property, describe the actual condition accurately and provide the best information you have about the date, circumstances and extent of damage. If Diia retrieves property data automatically, check it before continuing.

Do not state that a building is completely destroyed if it is only partially damaged, and do not estimate measurements or technical details as certain facts when you do not know them. The current procedure makes the applicant responsible for the accuracy of the submitted information.

If you have photographs, video or other evidence, preserve the original files as well as any copies uploaded with the report.

What should you do after reporting the property?

Keep your confirmation and continue preserving evidence of the damage. If your goal is national compensation, check the separate eRecovery eligibility requirements and submit the compensation application when appropriate.

Reporting the damage is an important first administrative step, but it does not itself determine the amount of compensation or guarantee a payment. Compensation decisions, inspections and payment conditions are handled under separate legislation and services.