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As the world watches the Russian invasion of Ukraine unfold, UkraineAlert delivers the best Atlantic Council expert insight and analysis on Ukraine twice a week directly to your inbox.

editor’s picks

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Sep 14, 2023

Putin’s North Korean “pariah summit” underlines his international isolation

By Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin’s recent meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was a “Pariah Summit” that underlined the scale of Russia’s international isolation as a result of the country’s criminal Ukraine invasion, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

Sep 13, 2023

Now is the time for businesses to look at Ukraine

By Andy Hunder

Ukraine’s reconstruction promises to be the largest national recovery project in Europe since World War II and will create unique business opportunities, writes AmCham Ukraine’s Andy Hunder.

Conflict
Economy & Business

UkraineAlert

Sep 12, 2023

Russia seeks to legitimize occupation of Ukraine with sham elections

By Mercedes Sapuppo, Olivia Yanchik

In early September, Russia staged sham parliamentary elections in occupied regions of southern and eastern Ukraine as Moscow attempted to legitimize its earlier illegal annexation of five Ukrainian provinces.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Sep 12, 2023

US expected to decide soon on long-range missiles for Ukraine

By Benton Coblentz

ATACMS missiles would greatly increase Ukraine’s ability to strike the logistical networks supporting Russia’s invasion and would make it increasingly difficult for Putin’s army to operate inside Ukraine, writes Benton Coblentz.

Conflict
Maritime Security

UkraineAlert

Sep 7, 2023

Ukraine’s partners cannot remove Putin but they can stop legitimizing him

By Richard Cashman

As long as Vladimir Putin is in power, Russia will remain a rogue state. Western policies that legitimize him through fear of a potential post-Putin Russia are perverse, writes Richard Cashman.

Conflict
Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Sep 6, 2023

Belarus dictator weaponizes passports in new attack on exiled opposition

By Hanna Liubakova

Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka has banned the country’s embassies from issuing or renewing passports in a move that critics see as his latest escalation against Belarus’s exiled pro-democracy opposition, writes Hanna Liubakova.

Belarus
Civil Society

UkraineAlert

Sep 5, 2023

Removal of defense minister shows wartime Ukraine is changing

By Melinda Haring

The removal of Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov in early September came following a series of minor but damaging corruption scandals and signaled a zero tolerance approach to graft in wartime Ukraine, writes Melinda Haring.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Sep 4, 2023

Jewish president picks Muslim defense minister: Ukraine’s diverse leadership debunks Russia’s “Nazi” slurs

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine now has a Jewish president and a Muslim minister of defense, underlining the diversity of the country’s leadership while exposing the absurdity of Russia’s “Nazi Ukraine” propaganda, writes Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 31, 2023

Russia is losing in Ukraine but winning in Georgia

By Giorgi Kandelaki

If Putin is able to reassert Russian dominance over Georgia while continuing to occupy 20% of the country, he will be encouraged to believe that a similar outcome will eventually prove possible in Ukraine, writes Giorgi Kandelaki.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 31, 2023

Putin’s Russia must not be allowed to normalize nuclear blackmail

By Olivia Yanchik

Vladimir Putin has used nuclear threats to intimidate the West and reduce the flow of military aid to Ukraine. If this trend does not change, Russia will succeed in normalizing nuclear blackmail as a foreign policy tool, writes Olivia Yanchik.

Arms Control
Conflict

spotlight

The views expressed in UkraineAlert are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its supporters.

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Content

UkraineAlert

Oct 5, 2021

Saakashvili arrest overshadows Georgian ruling party’s election win

By Peter Dickinson

Georgia’s ruling party Georgian Dream secured victory in October 2 local elections but the imprisonment of returning ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili leaves little realistic chance of an end to political tensions.

Elections
The Caucasus

UkraineAlert

Oct 4, 2021

Time to rethink Ukraine’s fight against corruption

By Bohdan Vitvitsky

The ongoing struggle against corruption in Ukraine would benefit from greater coordination among the country's international partners and a longer term strategy, argues Bohdan Vitvitsky.

Corruption
Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Oct 1, 2021

Europe is under attack from Putin’s energy weapon

By Sergiy Makogon

Moscow's Nord Stream 2 pipeline has yet to enter service but Russian President Vladimir Putin is already being accused of weaponizing energy supplies and attempting to blackmail Europe with high gas prices.

European Union
Geopolitics & Energy Security

UkraineAlert

Sep 30, 2021

Europe’s new Russia policy must focus on human rights

By Dave Elseroad, Nora Wehofsits

As the European Union looks to review and update its Russia policy, it is vital EU leaders focus on the growing human rights crisis that is threatening to spill over from Russia itself and undo the EU's own post-1991 progress.

Civil Society
European Union

UkraineAlert

Sep 29, 2021

How Ukraine can become a global IT powerhouse

By Yegor Chernev

Ukraine already boasts one of the region's most dynamic IT industries but further work is required to improve the business climate in order to make the most of the country's considerable tech sector potential.

Digital Currencies
Digital Policy

BelarusAlert

Sep 29, 2021

Lukashenka vs. Ukraine

By Brian Whitmore

Belarus dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka has accused NATO of establishing military bases in Ukraine and has vowed to respond together with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Belarus
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Sep 28, 2021

American author’s timely love letter to Odesa

By Anthony Bartaway

American author Vladislav Davidzon's new book "From Odessa With Love" takes readers on an entertaining and enlightening tour of Ukraine's famously colorful and cosmopolitan Black Sea port city.

Resilience & Society
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 25, 2021

How village cheese is bringing Ukraine closer to Europe

By Dmytro Tuzhanskyi

A village cheese-making initiative in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast is bringing a taste of Western Europe to the Ukrainian countryside and highlighting the possibilities of agricultural entrepreneurship.

Economy & Business
Resilience & Society

UkraineAlert

Sep 23, 2021

Zelenskyy slams UN inaction over Putin’s Ukraine war

By Peter Dickinson

In a strongly worded address at the UN, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that failure to confront Russian aggression in Ukraine will have grave consequences for international security.

Conflict
Politics & Diplomacy

UkraineAlert

Sep 21, 2021

Rigged vote highlights growing gulf between Putin’s Russia and democratic Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Russia's deeply flawed recent parliamentary election was a reminder of the growing gulf between the increasingly authoritarian country and the fledgling democratic political culture taking root in neighboring Ukraine.

Conflict
Democratic Transitions