Собственники воздержались.

Собственники is the plural of собственник, which means owner or property owner.

So:

• собственник = owner
• собственники = owners

This word often sounds a bit formal or legal. In many contexts, it refers to people who legally own something, such as an apartment, a building, shares, or other property.

Grammatically, собственники is in the nominative plural, because it is the subject of the sentence.

Russian has no articles, so there is no direct equivalent of the or a/an.

That means Собственники воздержались could be understood as:

• The owners abstained
• Owners abstained

Which one sounds best in English depends on the context.

In most real situations, the context makes it clear whether we mean specific owners or owners in general.

Воздержались is the past tense plural form of the verb воздержаться.

Breakdown:

• воздержаться = to abstain / to refrain
• воздержались = abstained / refrained

It is:

• past tense
• plural
• perfective
• reflexive

Because the subject собственники is plural, the verb also appears in the plural past form.

Yes. Воздержались comes from the reflexive verb воздержаться.

The ending -ся / -сь is the Russian reflexive marker. However, in this verb, it does not literally mean themselves. It is just part of the normal dictionary form of the verb.

So you should learn:

• воздержаться = to abstain / to refrain

not as a word-for-word combination, but as a single lexical item.

Also, the non-reflexive verb воздержать is a different verb with a different meaning, so you cannot just drop -ся / -сь here.

In the Russian past tense, verbs agree with the subject in:

• number: singular or plural
• gender: but only in the singular

Since собственники is plural, the verb must also be plural:

• singular masculine: воздержался
• singular feminine: воздержалась
• singular neuter: воздержалось
• plural: воздержались

So in this sentence, there is no gender marking because the subject is plural.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Most common possibilities:

• in a voting or meeting context: abstained
• in a broader context: refrained

So:

• Собственники воздержались in a meeting is very likely The owners abstained
• in another context, it could mean The owners refrained

If the meaning has already been shown to the learner, then context has probably already decided which translation is intended.

Yes, especially in a voting context.

Russian often allows воздержаться to stand alone when the situation is obvious. For example, in voting, воздержались by itself naturally means abstained.

In other contexts, the verb often takes more information, especially with от + genitive:

• воздержаться от комментариев = to refrain from comments
• воздержаться от критики = to refrain from criticism

So the short sentence Собственники воздержались is perfectly natural if the context already makes the action clear.

Воздержались is perfective, which usually presents the action as a complete event.

Here it suggests a completed fact:

• The owners abstained

The imperfective version would be воздерживались from воздерживаться.

That form would suggest something more like:

• they were abstaining
• they used to abstain
• they abstained repeatedly
• the action is being described as a process rather than as a single completed event

So in a simple report about the result of a vote, воздержались is the natural choice.

No, Russian word order is relatively flexible.

Собственники воздержались is a neutral, straightforward order:

• subject + verb

You could also hear:

• Воздержались собственники

That might be used for emphasis, contrast, or a particular flow of information.

But the version you were given is the most neutral and standard way to present the sentence.

They are similar, but not always identical in tone.

• собственники = owners, often with a formal/legal nuance
• владельцы = owners/holders, often a bit broader and sometimes less legalistic

In many situations they can both be translated as owners, but собственники often emphasizes legal ownership more strongly.

So in official, administrative, or property-related contexts, собственники is very common.