Atamanovka house fire victim denied housing compensation

A house with all its belongings burned to the ground due to a forest fire in Atamanovka (Zabaykalsky Krai) in summer 2025, and the resident has still not received all regional compensation for the fire, she wrote to the editorial office of Chita.Ru. The head of Chita District, Viktor Mashukov, explained to a correspondent why this happened.

The woman complained that she was approved for compensation only for loss of property, not for loss of housing. The victim sent appeals to the Government of the Russian Federation apparatus and the Presidential Administration of Russia, where she was told that the issue should be resolved at the local level.

She appealed to the governor of Zabaykalsky Krai and the head of Chita District but received no response. She then went to court. According to her, representatives of the Chita District administration did not attend the hearings.

The house was purchased with maternity capital (a Russian family subsidy). Its owners were five people, three of them children. The woman has no other property. The house was in the zone of an emergency regime introduced by a resolution of the Atamanovka administration.

The head of Chita District, Viktor Mashukov, explained to the correspondent that in such situations there are two types of compensation: for loss of property, which includes furniture and household items, and for loss of housing.

He noted that for loss of property, each family member of the victim received 157,000 rubles (approximately $1,700 at current rates) and an additional 15,000 rubles (approximately $167 at current rates) as a separate payment. He has documents confirming that they actually received this money.

The woman did not receive compensation for loss of housing because the package of documents she provided was incomplete and illegible.

«The quality of the copied documents made them impossible to read,» Viktor Mashukov explained.

The victim did not respond to being notified twice about the need to provide missing documents and replace illegible ones. Deadlines passed, the money was not paid, and the woman filed a lawsuit.

«The claim that administration representatives were not present at the hearings is false. Our lawyers were always there. They said the court postponed the hearings several times because the woman made new demands. Neither she nor her representative attended the last hearing themselves,» said the head of Chita District.

He explained that based on the court decision, which will be made approximately in August, they will take all measures regarding the payments.