Post-war Ukraine reconstruction insights with historian Tetiana Vodotyka

hromadske: If we're talking about post-war recovery in Ukraine, what should it look like? We know the government has a list of public investment projects in this area. There are older World Bank assessments with financial estimates of losses to the Ukrainian economy. What facilities should be rebuilt first?

Tetiana Vodotyka: I think reconstruction is a multi-level process. There's the Restoration Agency, which rebuilds strategic facilities: roads, power plants, and so on. That's one level. Another level is communities and local groups. We have 1,469 communities, some of which have been relocated. Some are more active and capable, others less so.

There are decisions at the state level: major infrastructure projects and national policies. There are decisions at the community level, in individual cities and towns — all of which affect recovery, its quality, and how well it meets community needs. A lot depends on the communities themselves — their ability to formulate and implement those needs.

Take Kyiv, for example: Some apartment associations understand they need a generator. Others start with, "Why should I contribute money?" You could have 35 restoration agencies and seminars on reconstruction principles, but if someone doesn't want to chip in for a generator, they won't. And there won't be a generator in the building.

This is where things like social cohesion and dialogue come in, which really mean people's ability to find common ground and a specialist — external or internal — or community leader's ability to guide people toward a sustainable decision for the future.

In the reconstruction field, there are many external players — experts and donors — each with their own agenda and priorities. Often, the challenge is ethically incorporating external expertise and funding while preserving a true understanding of Ukrainian communities' needs.

A hypothetical invited expert from the U.S., with experience rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and a community that needs to rebuild after a missile strike might have different understandings of the same terms. Both are reconstruction, after all. But probably with different methods, approaches, and goals.

I've come across cases where, for veteran reintegration, they suggested starting a horse club. Good idea. But probably not the top priority for veteran reintegration. The top priority is readiness to talk on equal terms, with respect and gratitude.

One goal of the urban studies and post-war reconstruction master's program is to train specialists who can produce knowledge, co-create knowledge, and lead to solutions that benefit communities.

The Kyiv School of Economics is primarily associated with economics, but you're heading a program in urban studies. I'd say that's a mix of humanities, urban planning, and construction. How did KSE come to realize it needed such a program?

It's not like social sciences and humanities were entirely new, but they've taken root. The Kyiv School of Economics has a traditionally strong program in public policy and governance. Now, the faculty of social studies is the largest in the entire school.

In 2022, the idea emerged and was approved by the Academic Council that humanities directions were needed at the Kyiv School of Economics.

In 2022, discussions about post-war reconstruction began in general. And that's when they tried to launch a recovery-focused program. But it didn't take off right away.

In 2023, three programs launched at once: "Social Psychology," "Public History and Memory Studies," and mine.

War creates enormous problems, including for young people and students. What rules does KSE have for students in these wartime conditions? For example, can you skip class if there was an overnight attack?

Last summer, the first graduates from my program defended their theses, and the first defenses were on a Monday. The night before, there was a terrible attack. I asked if we should reschedule, but everyone refused.

We don't have a policy of skipping classes due to attacks, but in the morning, we check in to see if everyone's OK and handle it based on the specific situation. If there's a need, there's flexibility, of course.

The amount of resources now invested in supporting students and staff is incredible (and a big thanks to donors for supporting all these initiatives). For example, they rented a separate hotel on the outskirts of Kyiv. If the situation is bad in your apartment or co-living space, you can stay there in warmth and peace.

There are shuttles between the KSE Dragon Capital Building and the hotel, including to the left bank. The same program exists for employees. You can request a sleeping bag, a power bank, or use an EcoFlow there. There's also a practice of recharge days — spending a few days outside Kyiv to rest.

You're from the city of Kherson. What do you see as the post-war reconstruction of this city? How important would it be to restore the Kherson seaport, for example?

It depends a lot on the market, Ukraine's economy, and what and where we export. If we're exporting drones to Poland, hypothetically, why do we need the Kherson port? But if we continue exporting grain, then it's needed. But if we don't demine all the fields where we grow grain for export, what will we export from the Kherson port? I think it all depends on what and where is de-occupied.

Right now, unfortunately, Kherson is becoming part of the kill zone. There are anti-drone nets over streets, and constant news about people being hunted. So a lot depends on security. Some iconic buildings, like the Kherson City Administration, are so destroyed that there's no point in restoring them.

In my entrance exams for students, there's this case study. Imagine Kherson is liberated, the Catherine Cathedral — an 18th-century landmark — is destroyed, and nearby they want to build a shopping center called "Catherine." And this is hypothetically 2027. What's your stance on that decision?

Is it restoring an old historical name? Yes. On the site of a landmark? Yes. But it's already empty there; they're clearing the last three bricks. Do we need a shopping center? We need a shopping center. So what's wrong? My program teaches you to understand what's wrong.

Yes, Kherson was founded in imperial times, but Kherson has other heroes who died defending Ukrainian independence. So no more "Catherine" name. Do we need a shopping center? Or maybe first a recovery strategy, public consultations, participatory workshops, and then a decision on what Kherson really needs. And what to do with the memory site of the destroyed landmark? Yes, from imperial times, but still the city's origins. Maybe a city museum there instead of an entertainment center?

Do you think, after the war ends, we'll be able to change the face of Ukrainian cities? We know well that these cities sometimes have gray Soviet faces.

I don't think the war will end, and instead of the Khrushchev-era apartments I'm sitting in right now, some incredible, super-cool, comfortable neighborhood will appear. No. Because Khrushchevkas, by the way, have proven their great resilience over time. I think changes will come in public transportation, services, memorial sites, public spaces, meanings, and practices.

Right now, many local projects are working to shape public spaces to better support community-building, so communities can work together. I really like what's happening in Chokolivka — a district in Kyiv.

You probably know that [Ukrainian poet and literary critic Ivan] Svitlychnyi lived there, and [poet and dissident Vasyl] Stus lived nearby. And the "Ostriv" platform team is actively working to make this layer of meaning in this completely ordinary district, built in the 1960s, visible and significant. The team is working on a physical space dedicated to Svitlychnyi. It's in those same Khrushchevkas. The same gray buildings, but new meanings emerge.

And changing meanings in this way, paradoxically, is cheaper than demolishing a Khrushchevka and putting up a new fancy residential complex. Though, again, how is it cheaper? You had to raise this generation now approaching 30, and educate them. They had to meet historians, go to archives, learn about Svitlychnyi, and find their voice and agency. But it's in such initiatives that the key to change lies.

In your opinion, which European cities should Ukrainian cities learn from? In energy, transportation, housing construction, the development of urban entertainment culture, and other areas.

You can take any practice from any city, call it best practices, bring it to Ukraine — and it won't work here. At the same time, it's worth studying other experiences and adapting what's appropriate and could improve the quality of life in Ukraine.

You also have to understand that some solutions will never work in Ukraine, and that a European city doesn't necessarily mean a comfortable one. There are Italian cities where realizing barrier-free access as a principle is practically impossible. There are examples in Germany of cool post-war reconstruction and cool buildings. And not so cool. For example, in Göttingen, there are a few buildings specifically for refugees, for asylum seekers — on the outskirts of the city. Nearby, there's nothing but a little forest, an industrial site (not necessarily where the residents work), and a prison not far away. Not a super successful planning decision.

German public transportation is very good. Also, German barrier-free access and wheelchair and suitcase accessibility — that's wonderful. But as the Berlin case showed, for example, during a January blackout, the level of challenges can be comparable to ours.

Or, for example, fully electric public transportation, which exists in Germany — that's a good, ecological solution. But, as the winter of 2025-2026 showed in Kyiv, for us, that solution would be unsuitable, because in blackout conditions, a city with only electric public transport would be paralyzed. Because in winter, instead of trams and trolleys, buses and minibuses run — not the best solution, but workable in those conditions.

Let's go back in time a bit and talk about your path in Ukrainian economic history. Where did your interest in history come from?

Both my mom and dad are historians, so my career choice was kind of predetermined. I studied at the History Faculty of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, though I ended up there somewhat by chance. I had always dreamed of attending Mohyla Academy, but in the summer of 2004—my admission year—I placed as a prize-winner in the national history olympiad. Mohyla only accepted first-place winners, but Shevchenko University admitted prize-winners like me without entrance exams.

It was during my second year, around 2005 or 2006, that I discovered my passion for business history and the history of entrepreneurship. At the time, there was a prevailing narrative that philanthropists in the 19th century had built, say, 35 hospitals and 148 schools for us—and now we owe them.

Few people still, despite everything written in my books (yes, I'll brag about my books), think about the question: Where did the money come from? After all, you had to earn it somehow, save it, and spend it not on a 35th diamond but on a school or Ukrainian project. And the latter was quite risky, since Ukraine as a state wasn't yet a political reality.

I was very interested in showing the first step — where the money came from.

And at that time, I managed to find only one text by Tamara Lazanska on the history of Ukrainian entrepreneurship, which, as we'd say now, was a good quantitative study based on open sources.

But you have to go beyond numbers from sources. OK, there were the Brodskys, earned X millions, produced X poods of sugar, and that's X percent of the empire-wide sugar production. And then what? That tells us nothing.

There was a clear gap in knowledge, a clear gap in understanding Ukraine's history and development, Ukrainian wealth.

Then another motivation came to me, and it intensified during the invasion. I'll explain with an example.

When [retailer] Epicentr opened a new facility in Lviv Oblast somewhere, there was this: "Why are they building this? They should give everything to the front." But business has to work, generate jobs, pay taxes, and build economic capacity — for the front [now] and future development.

Returning to reconstruction questions. The state and donors won't rebuild everything. And a lot will depend not only on major infrastructure projects but also on the routines of the service sector. Conditionally speaking, we return not just for the Kherson port but for the coffee shop around the corner on Tyraspolska Street, the restaurant near the city theater, the hair salon a few blocks from home, the hospital, and the lab for tests. These routines businesses create are very important for shaping a new normal; they can even have a therapeutic effect.

Ultimately, business is about self-reliance, resilience, and flexibility. That's very Ukrainian, but for a long time, we were told it was shameful, scary, and criminal. And now, this imposed Soviet view is changing, which inspires optimism.