Selling Property in Ukraine under Martial Law and Moving the Proceeds to Israel: What Is Possible, What Is Restricted and the Risks

1Can an apartment in Ukraine be sold today?

Yes, in most of Ukraine. Martial law has been in force in the country since 24 February 2022, and since then the State Register of Real Property Rights (Державний реєстр речових прав) has operated under special rules, set by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 209 of 6 March 2022 and its amendments. A real estate sale contract is certified by a Ukrainian notary, and the notary also registers the transfer of ownership in the register.

In the first months of the war, severe restrictions were imposed. According to the Baker McKenzie guide to Ukrainian laws in wartime (September 2026), Cabinet Resolution No. 469 of 9 May 2023 lifted most of them: a buyer may again sell a property immediately after buying it (previously a one-month wait was required), and an individual can sell through a power of attorney without first confirming that the power of attorney is still in force. From 1 January 2024, the restriction under which only notaries on a special Ministry of Justice list could certify sale transactions was also lifted. However, registration still depends on the notary's access to the register for the specific property, and that access depends on the location.

2What happens when the property is in an occupied area or a combat zone?

This is where the real problems begin. The Ministry of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, to which the list formerly kept by the Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories passed, publishes an official list of territories where hostilities are or were taking place and of occupied territories. The current list was approved by Order No. 987 of 26 May 2026, entered into force on 5 June 2026, and is updated from time to time. For each administrative unit, its status (possible hostilities, active hostilities or temporary occupation) and the dates on which the status began and ended are stated.

In parallel, the Ministry of Justice publishes a list of administrative units in which access to the registers was suspended (Order No. 1307/5 of 1 April 2022, which is updated). According to a finance.ua review, in most occupied territories access to the register is blocked, and a notary who cannot verify ownership will not certify the contract. For property in Crimea and in the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Kherson regions, a special rule applies: according to Baker McKenzie, rights there may be registered by a registrar located elsewhere in Ukraine. This rule does not solve the verification problem when there is no access to the data, and says nothing about the physical condition of the property.

3How do you sell property in Ukraine from Israel through a power of attorney?

In most cases this is the practical route. We do not assess the security situation in Ukraine. Before any trip, check the current travel warning of Israel's National Security Council, and for the sale it is preferable to act through an attorney-in-fact. According to an article by a Kyiv notary, Ukrainian law recognises no other form of "remote signing": the attorney-in-fact signs in person before the notary in Ukraine.

• A power of attorney before a notary in Israel: a public document from a state party to the Hague Convention needs an apostille, unless a treaty exempts it. A professional translation into Ukrainian is then required, according to the requirements of the notary who will certify the transaction. Machine translation is not accepted.
• A power of attorney at a Ukrainian consulate: it is drawn up in Ukrainian, needs no apostille or translation, and is entered in the Ukrainian Unified Register of Powers of Attorney (ЄРД). The drawback: queues at consulates may last months.
• Explicit content: Ukrainian law does not recognise a "general power of attorney". State explicitly the property and the authority to sell, sign, pay taxes and receive documents, and provide that the proceeds will be paid only to an account in your name.
• Validity: where no term is set, the power of attorney is valid until revoked, but it lapses on the death of the grantor. A power of attorney from a foreign notary is not entered in ЄРД, so the notary may make inquiries. In practice, a new power of attorney dedicated to the transaction is preferable to an old document.
• Accompanying documents: a Ukrainian taxpayer identification number (РНОКПП) for you and for the attorney-in-fact, the consent of your spouse where required, and the original ownership documents, which are sent to Ukraine.

4What does the notary check before certifying the sale?

The Ukrainian notary is the gatekeeper of the transaction, and before signing checks at least the following:

• Registration of ownership in the state register, and that there are no attachments, prohibitions on alienation or encumbrances on the property.
• The identity of the parties and the authority of the attorney-in-fact. Under Cabinet Resolution No. 164 of 28 February 2022, notaries refuse to serve persons and entities associated with the aggressor state, so a transaction with such a buyer will not be certified.
• A valuation of the property, and payment of the seller's tax and fees before certification. The taxation itself is a separate topic; see our guide on property taxes for non-residents in Ukraine.
• The method of payment. According to a professional article from December 2024, a payment of more than UAH 50,000 in such a transaction must be made by bank transfer in hryvnia, from the buyer's account to the seller's account.
• The source of funds. Notaries and banks in Ukraine are subject to financial monitoring obligations and may ask the parties for documents on the source of the money and the purpose of the transaction.

5Is it permitted to transfer the money from the sale of the property to Israel?

This is the question that must be resolved before signing. As of October 2026, we found no general permission allowing a non-resident individual to transfer abroad, by bank transfer from Ukraine, the proceeds of a real estate sale.

Resolution No. 18 of the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) of 24 February 2022, on the operation of the banking system during martial law, is built on a simple principle: transferring money from Ukraine abroad is prohibited unless expressly permitted. Since 2024 the NBU has been easing gradually, but most of the easing measures concern companies: dividends, loans, imports, and the "investment limit" mechanism, which allows a Ukrainian company to carry out foreign currency operations up to the amount of foreign capital injected into it from 12 May 2025. That mechanism is designed for companies, not for an individual selling an apartment.

The 2026 easing measures did not solve the problem either. According to the NBU, Resolution No. 43 of 23 April 2026 (in force from 25 April) allows a non-resident individual to buy foreign currency and transfer it abroad in the amount of salaries and payments under civil-law contracts received from 1 May 2026. Resolution No. 90 of 10 August 2026 (in force from 11 August) raised, according to the Association of Ukrainian Banks, the limits for everyday use: purchase of foreign currency up to UAH 200,000 per month, cash withdrawal from a foreign currency account up to UAH 200,000 per day, and payments abroad for goods and services up to UAH 200,000 per month. These are limits for everyday payments, not a channel for moving capital out.

The bottom line: according to an August 2025 overview by the law firm Kinstellar, foreign investors cannot receive abroad money from the sale of assets in Ukraine to a domestic buyer, including real estate. When the price is paid in Ukraine, the seller may hold the money in a local account, but may not transfer it abroad. The Baker McKenzie guide of September 2026 also does not list real estate sale proceeds among the permitted exceptions.

6Can the buyer pay the price abroad?

According to Kinstellar, the restrictions of Resolution No. 18 apply only to transfers from Ukraine, and not to a transaction in which the price is paid from the buyer's foreign account to the seller's foreign account. In practice this is relevant mainly when the buyer lawfully holds money abroad, for example a foreign buyer. But this is not a free "loophole", and several things need to be checked:

• Payment security: there is no escrow holding the money until registration. The sequence of steps must be planned so that ownership does not pass before the money has been received.
• What the contract says: the price and the method of payment are recorded in the notarial contract. It must be checked in advance with the notary how payment abroad fits with the bank payment requirement in transactions between individuals.
• The buyer's source of funds: a buyer resident in Ukraine who pays from an account abroad must show that the money got there lawfully. Otherwise, the transaction may look like circumvention of the currency restrictions.
• Tax: the tax in Ukraine applies even when the price is paid abroad, and the duty to report in Israel does not change.

7What does leaving the money in Ukraine mean?

When the money cannot be taken out, it can be left in an account in your name at a Ukrainian bank, until the rules change or until it has a use in Ukraine. The account must be in your name, not in the name of the attorney-in-fact or a relative. Take the risks into account: changes in the hryvnia exchange rate, dependence on the banking system in wartime, and the possibility that the restrictions will last a long time. Future easing is not guaranteed either. Managing the account from Israel has its own limits: for example, cash withdrawal abroad with a card linked to a hryvnia account is limited to UAH 12,500 per seven days (as of September 2026, according to Baker McKenzie).

8What will the bank in Israel require when the money arrives?

Banks in Israel are obliged, under the Prohibition on Money Laundering Law and the order applying to banking corporations, to know the customer and to check the source of funds. A large transfer from a country under martial law and with currency restrictions will be examined carefully. The bank will want to see the whole chain: how the property was bought or received, how it was sold, and how the money left lawfully.

• The original purchase contract, or the Ukrainian certificate of the right to inheritance where the property was inherited.
• An extract from the state register showing your ownership.
• The notarial sale contract and confirmations of tax payment in Ukraine.
• Account statements showing receipt of the proceeds, and confirmation from the remitting bank of the transfer (SWIFT).
• A written explanation of the legal basis for the transfer and, where the price was paid abroad, the buyer's details and source of funds.

Send the file to your banker before the transfer goes out. In parallel, the sale is reported to the Israel Tax Authority, and the tax treaty between Israel and Ukraine determines which country may tax. We cover this in detail in the guide on property taxes for non-residents in Ukraine.

9And what if the property was damaged or destroyed in the war?

Information on damage to a property is recorded in the State Register of Damaged and Destroyed Property. According to Baker McKenzie, owners, including construction investors and heirs, can submit a notice of the damage through the Diia portal, through administrative service centres or through a notary. Law No. 2923-IX, in force since 22 May 2023, governs compensation for damage to residential property: restoration, funding for building a house, or a "housing certificate" to buy another apartment. The application is submitted during martial law and up to one year after it ends in the territory where the property is located.

Note a decisive point: according to the wording of the law, the compensation is intended for property owned by citizens of Ukraine. An Israeli who is not a Ukrainian citizen is probably not eligible for compensation under this law, and anyone who also holds Ukrainian citizenship should check their eligibility. A destroyed property is also very difficult to sell, because its registration and value do not reflect its actual condition.

10Checklist before deciding to sell

1. Check the status of the administrative unit where the property is located on the list of territories, and whether there is access to the register.
2. Order an up-to-date extract from the state register through a local notary or lawyer: ownership, attachments and encumbrances.
3. Obtain an РНОКПП if you do not have one, and decide who will be the attorney-in-fact.
4. Execute a power of attorney dedicated to the sale, with an apostille and translation, or at a Ukrainian consulate.
5. Clarify in writing with the Ukrainian bank what can be done with the proceeds, before agreeing on a price and a date.
6. Decide in advance where and in whose name the price will be paid, and write it into the contract.
7. Calculate the tax in Ukraine and in Israel with a tax adviser.
8. Prepare a complete source-of-funds file for the bank in Israel, from the purchase to the transfer.
9. Immediately before signing, make sure again that the rules have not changed.

11What to do before selling property in Ukraine, and how we accompany you

A sale in Ukraine in wartime starts with the question of what will happen to the money, and only then with the question of price. Acts under Ukrainian law, such as the register check, certification of the contract and registration, are performed by licensed Ukrainian notaries and lawyers. We coordinate the process from Israel: we prepare the power of attorney with the required certifications, review the documents and the payment clauses in the contract, clarify in advance with the local parties what can be done with the proceeds, and look at the transaction from the side of whoever will eventually have to present it to the bank and the Israel Tax Authority. We do not recommend investing in Ukraine and do not assess the security situation.

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