Two houses in Sevastopol's Balaklava district, belonging to the Korolyov and Kuvshinov families, burned down after a drone attack on the night of Aug. 1. A city commission awarded Sergei Kuvshinov 4.3 million rubles and the Korolyovs 2.6 million rubles, while the cost of building new homes is estimated at about 10 million rubles.
Andrei Korolyov said that erecting just the walls and roof, without interior finishing or utilities, would cost 5.6 million rubles. Submitting an estimate to the city administration did not lead to a review of the payout.
Unlike neighboring Crimea, the Belgorod and Kursk regions, Sevastopol operates its own support procedure for victims. It pays not compensation for damage but "financial assistance" from the city's reserve fund under Governor's Order No. 431-RG. The document does not establish a calculation methodology; the commission determines the amount based on inspection reports.
In the Belgorod and Kursk regions and annexed Crimea, a federal mechanism applies under Russian government Resolution No. 2402 of Dec. 29, 2023. There, the payout is tied to the area of the lost housing and the average market price per square meter set by the Construction Ministry. For Sevastopol, that figure for the third quarter of 2026 is 169,716 rubles, even higher than in Crimea (164,953 rubles). According to Sevastopol authorities, it is used to calculate federal transfers, not to assist individual victims.
The presidential administration told one of the victims that the local commission "is not obliged to take into account the amount of damage actually caused or the market value of the affected property." It also said the federal procedure could not be applied because no state of emergency was introduced in Sevastopol after the relevant attacks.
Another city resident has been waiting for a payout determination for six months. His house in the Kazachya Bay area was completely destroyed in a drone strike on March 18. According to him, the commission could not determine the amount of damage and referred the matter to the capital construction department, which ultimately offered him a payout based on the cadastral value.
The problem has existed at least since 2024. The house of Artyom Shirokostup's mother-in-law was destroyed in an attack in March 2024. The commission awarded the family just over 2 million rubles, although an independent appraisal put the market value of the house at more than 9 million. An appellate court initially ordered the payout reviewed to reflect market value, calling that approach "the only proportionate method consistent with the principles of justice." After subsequent proceedings, the original refusal to increase the payout stood, with the city court leaving it unchanged. Shirokostup is appealing to a cassation court.
Victims are also trying to have the Sevastopol government's order itself declared unlawful in court, arguing that it contradicts the federal mechanism for supporting citizens who have lost their homes. In 2023, Vladimir Putin demanded that repairs to housing and compensation for property of citizens affected by shelling not "stall" or "get bogged down in bureaucratic procedures." The presidential administration later clarified to one Sevastopol resident that he had been referring to the Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions and annexed Crimea, and that Sevastopol was not on that list.