"The population of Donetsk could increase to 1.5 million people", - local media quote the words of russian official Andrey Chertkov, sent by the kremlin to oversee Donbas.
In his view, residents who left should return to the Donbas capital, and the youth should remain in the city.
In reality, before 2014, the city had about 975,000 inhabitants, so the return of hundreds of thousands of people who left due to the russian invasion would not be enough for Donetsk’s population to reach the number announced by Chertkov. The figure of 1.5 million may indirectly indicate plans for mass resettlement of residents from russian regions. The mortgage program for the occupied territories of Ukraine is aimed precisely at them. While in russia, purchasing housing on a mortgage is only possible within the buyer’s region of residence, in the annexed regions of Ukraine, any russian citizen can take out a mortgage to build housing.
Currently, mass construction of commercial housing has begun in Donetsk, affordable mainly to russian citizens wishing to settle in the "new territories". Naturally, Ukrainians who ended up in the occupied territory and lost their homes due to russian aggression can also take out a mortgage.
However, even with the preferential interest rate (2% per year), they will not be able to buy housing at the prices offered by developers—the maximum mortgage amount is 6 million rubles ($73 thousand). Approximately the same amount covers a one-room apartment at the foundation stage.