A pregnant resident named Ekaterina faces losing land her family rented in Tomsk Oblast after a Siberian regional court backed environmental prosecutors seeking to seize the property.
The case was reported by Ostorozhno Novosti, a Russian news outlet on Telegram that covers regional legal disputes and social issues.
The legal action was launched by the regional environmental prosecutor's office, which filed a lawsuit to confiscate the leased plots in the village of Nekrasovo on the grounds that they had been rented illegally.
Ekaterina and her husband had secured lease agreements for the land in 2024, with contracts running until 2036 and 2037. The family received official permission for the lease and paid rent every month.
During their tenancy, the couple worked to clear garbage and improve the plots. They did not cut down any trees or engage in unauthorized construction work on the land.
Legal proceedings and court rulings
Following the lawsuit by the prosecutor's office, the family had to fight the legal challenge in court. Ekaterina said that despite being pregnant she was forced to participate in every judicial hearing, hire a lawyer, and pay for two independent expert evaluations costing 60,000 roubles each.
The family won an initial victory when a local district court ruled in their favor, rejecting the prosecutor's demands to void the lease agreements.
However, the regional court subsequently overturned the lower court decision on appeal, ruling in favor of the environmental prosecutor's office.
The disputed plots were then transferred into the state forest fund without the knowledge or consent of Ekaterina and her husband.
Forest fund status and property disputes
Nekrasovo is a settlement located in Tomsk Oblast in western Siberia. Under Russian land law, property designated as part of the state forest fund is subject to strict environmental regulations that prohibit private residential leases and municipal developments.
In Russia, legal disputes over land ownership and government reclassification of property rights have affected high-profile individuals as well as private citizens. Russian singer Alla Pugacheva was previously deprived of her ownership rights to land in Solnechnogorsk, a town in Moscow Oblast.
Following the appellate decision, Ekaterina and her husband remain at risk of losing their rights to the land entirely.
