Approaches to Ukraine’s wartime and anticipated post-war reconstruction and recovery, united under a general slogan of build back better, are currently embodied in multiple policies and projects. However, these often lack embeddedness into a broader context of territory, failing to trace and reflect upon historically and ecologically defined settlement practices and, broadly, a connection to the zemlya, the land. How could the ‘territorial’ focus be translated into recovery policy, in terms of concepts, approaches, and methods?