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Lookup NU author(s): Joshua Weatherill-Frow, Alla Kucherova, Dr Dana OfiteruORCiD, Professor Claire WalshORCiD, Professor Jaime AmezagaORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2026 The Authors. Analysis of Ukraine's water sector through a path dependency framework shows how historical legacies, institutional inertia, and critical political junctures shape present challenges and future opportunities. The legacy of the Soviet Union, in both water infrastructure and policy development, is central to understanding the deterioration of the country's water systems since independence. Ageing infrastructure, fragmented governance, and chronic underfunding, compounded by political instability and corruption, reflect the enduring dynamics of historical institutionalism in Ukraine. Over the past decade, the government has made substantial strides toward overcoming these entrenched patterns, primarily through alignment with the European Union (EU) acquis, until the ongoing conflict hindered implementation. With new water policy and institutions not holistically established, war-related destruction of infrastructure and the environment has significantly exacerbated water stress. Hence, the development of comprehensive environmental monitoring and governance reform across Ukraine is pivotal for the successful recovery of the water sector. Efforts to reconcile and further develop water policies since the war indicate a determined trajectory toward sustainable governance through international collaboration and continued alignment with the European Union. Ukraine's long-term water security and climatic resilience hinge on coordinated international support, reconstruction financing, and strategic planning to transcend entrenched systems that have constrained reform.
Author(s): Weatherill-Frow J, Gerasimov I, Kucherova A, Ofiteru ID, Walsh C, Amezaga J
Publication type: Review
Publication status: Published
Journal: Water Policy
Year: 2026
Volume: 28
Issue: 7
Pages: 1098-1131
Print publication date: 01/07/2026
Online publication date: 18/05/2026
Acceptance date: 01/04/2026
ISSN (print): 1366-7017
ISSN (electronic): 1996-9759
Publisher: IWA Publishing
URL: https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2026.011
DOI: 10.2166/wp.2026.011
Data Access Statement: All relevant data are included in the paper or its Supplementary Information.
