The law on compensation for the housing damaged or destroyed as a result of Russia's aggression against Ukraine might come into action in May 2023, Head of the Servant of the People party Olena Shuliak has said.

"The law has been tabled for signing to the Verkhovna Rada chairman and then it will be sent to the president for signing. The law envisages two months for the development by the government of relevant normative legal acts. We hope that the law will come into action as soon as in May," she told a press briefing on Tuesday.

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine will have to approve the price per square meter for compensation in every region by estimating the state of the housing market, Shuliak said.

Ukrainians have reported 335,000 cases of housing damage or demolition through the Diia portal, she said. Currently, the volume of reported destruction is estimated at around 23 million square meters. The majority of cases were reported om Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Kyiv regions.

According to the calculations, more than 1 million Ukrainians were left homeless as of today. The compensations will be paid in queue order, while priority will be given to the military and demobilized, families with many children and people with disability, Shuliak said.

More than 500 communities and data about 10,000 objects have been added to the register of damaged property, she said, recalling that applications can be submitted through Diia, administrative services centers, notaries public, social protection authorities, and their mobile points.

Verification of applications will be carried out by commissions under local governments created in each community where damaged housing is recorded. Shuliak explained that such a commission is also obliged to assist in the restoration of lost documents on the ownership of housing, interact with other authorities to obtain relevant certificates, and also assist in filing lawsuits to restore or confirm documents on housing in the de-occupied territories.

"Today, the government has UAH 17 billion – exactly from the sources that will be used to pay compensation. These are the first funds that came from the seized assets of the Russian Sberbank's subsidiary. We hope that all other funds from (similar) seized property will also be sent to the Fund for the Elimination of Consequences of Russian Aggression. And we will be able, without waiting for reparations, to provide citizens with compensation for destroyed and damaged housing," Shuliak said.

As reported, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in general bill No. 7198 on the creation of a state register of housing damaged and destroyed as a result of Russia's armed invasion of Ukraine, and the compensation procedure for it.