I can't imagine it will be a quick transition. There are lots of things to decide, like who will become Russian citizens and who will merely be a resident. Also currencies, bank deposits, border guards have to be set up and the population data has to be recorded in the Russian system. The Ukrainian side will probably not cooperate with any of that. In addition, tourist season is coming up and they won't want to rock the boat.
They'll probably be part of Russia but a separate customs/travel/monetary/tax zone during the transition period. Somewhat like Puerto Rico is to the US, I imagine.
Russian property rights have improved a lot in the past 3-4 years. It's now extremely difficult to steal an apartment without the owner knowing. If someone is registered in it, that makes practically impossible. The cadastral register (land titles registry) is now electronic and online. It isn't like in the old days where whoever held the piece of paper was the official owner.
The only theft cases I've heard of involved babushkas refusing to sell their shacks on Rublyovka, thereby preventing a bigwig from building his dream mansion complete with an 18-hole golf course.
They'll probably be part of Russia but a separate customs/travel/monetary/tax zone during the transition period. Somewhat like Puerto Rico is to the US, I imagine.
Russian property rights have improved a lot in the past 3-4 years. It's now extremely difficult to steal an apartment without the owner knowing. If someone is registered in it, that makes practically impossible. The cadastral register (land titles registry) is now electronic and online. It isn't like in the old days where whoever held the piece of paper was the official owner.
The only theft cases I've heard of involved babushkas refusing to sell their shacks on Rublyovka, thereby preventing a bigwig from building his dream mansion complete with an 18-hole golf course.