A hunger strike by military wives in the Rostov region has attracted Moscow's attention.

Federal authorities responded to the hunger strike of military wives in the Rostov region, after which the women ended their protest. Other victims of the developer's deception complained that they were forced to rent housing and pay mortgages on unfinished houses.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," on December 18, 2025, in the Rostov region, the wives of SVO participants announced a hunger strike to draw the attention of federal authorities to their problem. The women claim they were left homeless and in mortgage debt due to the fault of the developer, the Rostov-based company "Citystroy." The wives of the SVO participants also recorded an appeal to Putin asking him to either write off their mortgages, return the money, or complete the construction of their houses. According to the victims, appeals to regional agencies have yielded no results, and the criminal case has not resulted in the return of funds.

The wives of the SVO participants who suffered as a result of the construction company's actions have ended their indefinite hunger strike, one of the participants, who asked not to be named, told a Caucasian Knot correspondent on January 13.

They contacted us and said the matter is under their control.

"We demanded the attention of the federal authorities, they contacted us and said the matter is under their control. They urged us to end the hunger strike and await a decision," she said briefly, refraining from giving details. The remaining hunger strikers declined to comment, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reported.

The main demand of the victims for the authorities is to find another developer who will complete the construction of the houses, Alena Ravtsova, who did not participate in the hunger strike, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"We want concrete actions from the authorities, not formal replies. The ideal option is to find a new responsible developer who will complete our houses under the supervision of regional authorities. A refund will not satisfy us, because we will no longer be able to buy anything with this money; prices have risen. Breaking the contract is also not a solution; we will be left with a debt to Sberbank and without housing. We need the state to take control of the situation, freeze our mortgage payments during the investigation, and organize the completion of the construction. We are ready to wait, ready to pay extra if necessary, but we cannot simultaneously pay a mortgage of 40,000 rubles a month, rent an apartment, and "while living in uncertainty," she noted.

The woman explained that she is raising two children alone, one of whom has a disability. "In 2024, I decided to take out a family mortgage from Sberbank under the preferential program for 6 million rubles with a minimum interest rate of 6%. The developer, Citystroy LLC, was accredited by Sberbank of Russia. The bank recommended them as a reliable developer and transferred 90 percent of the amount, about 5 million rubles, to them. This was the case for all families who received a mortgage. But construction stopped in October 2024. My children and I were effectively left homeless and without the home we had dreamed of so much," said Alena Ravtsova.

65,000 rubles just for a roof over our heads

She noted that she was forced to live in a rented apartment and pay 25,000 rubles in rent plus 40,000 rubles on the mortgage. "That's 65,000 rubles just for a roof over my head, considering my limited income as a single mother with two disabled children. I work remotely, and most of my income goes toward housing and medical treatment for the children. My youngest child needs regular treatments, special nutrition, and medications—all of that costs money. We were counting on moving into our own home by the end of 2024, where the children would live in normal conditions, and I would stop wasting money on rent. Instead, we're paying for a house that doesn't exist, renting a place to live, and we don't know what will happen next. The rented apartment is small, the children can't study properly, and they don't have their own space. This isn't life, it's survival," she complained. Another victim, Alina Wober, admitted that her dream of a home has turned into a "real nightmare." "They acknowledge the problem, open a case, recognize us as victims, but there's been zero real action. Citystroy continues to lead everyone by the nose, promising to resume work but doing nothing. We wrote to the Russian presidential administration and received a response that the issue had been forwarded to local authorities, but they already know about the problem and can't do anything," she told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

I don't know how much longer I can drag it out—renting an apartment and paying the mortgage.

According to her, the banks are refusing to freeze payments. "We contacted the Bank of Russia with a request to freeze mortgage payments, but they refused, saying it was supposedly outside their jurisdiction. Sberbank is also shrugging its shoulders, saying they can't unilaterally change the terms of the contract. And approximately 700 families find themselves in this situation. "I don't know how much longer I can carry on—renting, paying the mortgage, raising children alone—I've run out of strength. And I've lost hope," the woman lamented.

Natalia Kruzhilina, a victim of Citystroy, completed her house herself to avoid a mortgage rate hike. "We finished the house ourselves, and we were in a hurry to provide the bank with [information] that we'd completed the house so we wouldn't face penalties or interest rate increases. But we received an expert assessment that the house was slated for demolition because the foundation didn't meet building codes, cheap, low-quality materials were used, and the dimensions and depth were reduced by half. Four million 300,000 rubles down the drain." "The house is standing, but it needs to be torn down, and they won't freeze the mortgage payments," she told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Another victim, Elena Kravtsova, also continues to pay her mortgage, even though only the foundation remains on her property. "I'm not alone. Most houses only have a foundation, no walls, no roof. We didn't finish building them ourselves because the company said we had to buy all the building materials ourselves, hire workers, and then they would simply sign the deeds and we would leave without complaint. They've been running this scheme smoothly for many years, defrauding more than 700 families this way," she told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Kravtsova did not participate in the hunger strike, but she supports the demand that the authorities provide assistance to the defrauded citizens. "We demand assistance, encouragement so that the banks, which are all state-owned, freeze all mortgages while the court proceedings are ongoing. "And when the company's guilt is proven, let it pay all our mortgages. Or another option: let the state help us finish our houses, even if they don't have any renovations or interior finishing, just shells. We'll do the rest ourselves," she said.