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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

Feb 4, 2021

Ukraine scores court victory in long quest for justice over Russia’s Crimean crimes

By Shelby Magid, Andrew D’Anieri

Ukraine’s long quest to bring Russia to justice received a boost on January 14 when the ECHR ruled that Ukrainian complaints of Russian crimes in occupied Crimea were “partly admissible.”

Conflict Human Rights

UkraineAlert

Feb 3, 2021

Ukraine strikes back against Russian infowar with ban on Kremlin-linked TV channels

By Taras Kuzio

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's February 2 decision to force three Kremlin-linked Ukrainian TV channels off the air is his boldest move yet in the struggle against Russia's ongoing hybrid war.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Feb 2, 2021

Zelenskyy’s Axios interview raises questions in Ukraine

By Solomiia Bobrovska

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's recent interview with US outlet Axios left many questioning the quality of his preparation and unsure about his views on the key events in modern Ukrainian history.

Media Politics & Diplomacy

UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2021

Ukraine embraces openness with new report on Russian hybrid warfare challenges

By Brian Mefford

A new report by Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service explores the threats posed by Russia's ongoing hybrid war against the country and demonstrates a new openness that reflects broader changes in Ukraine.

Conflict Intelligence

UkraineAlert

Jan 30, 2021

The rejection of reformer Yuriy Vitrenko highlights Ukraine’s broken politics

By Adrian Karatnycky

The Ukrainian parliament's failure to confirm the appointment of veteran reformer Yuriy Vitrenko as Energy Minister raises serious questions over the maturity of the country's political culture.

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Jan 28, 2021

Navalny’s anti-Putin message resonates in Russia’s regions

By Maria Snegovaya

Alexei Navalny’s anti-Putin message clearly resonates with residents of Russian regions far away from the country’s traditional centers of political activity in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Civil Society Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Jan 28, 2021

Navalny vs Putin: what next?

By Peter Dickinson

January 23 saw some of the biggest anti-regime protests across Russia in recent years. What can we expect from the escalating confrontation between Vladimir Putin and opposition leader Alexei Navalny?

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2021

Geopolitics complicates Ukraine’s vaccine quest

By Pavlo Kovtoniuk

Unfavorable geopolitical factors have helped make Ukraine one of the last countries in Europe to secure COVID vaccine supplies and delayed the launch of a national inoculation campaign.

Coronavirus Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2021

Protest mood spreads from Belarus to Russia as calls grow for post-Soviet change

By Brian Whitmore

As Russians took to the streets across eleven time zones on January 23 to protest the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, many of them also had protests in neighboring Belarus on their minds.

Belarus Civil Society

UkraineAlert

Jan 26, 2021

Resetting Ukraine’s reforms

By Olena Halushka

Since the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, Ukraine has embarked on an historic reform process that has produced decidedly mixed results. A reset may now help get the country's transformation back on track.

Corruption Democratic Transitions

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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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UkraineAlert

Feb 20, 2022

Putin’s self-defeating war has succeeded in uniting Ukrainians

By Lucy Minicozzi-Wheeland

Vladimir Putin’s eight-year war against Ukraine has had a profound impact on Ukrainian identity and done more for national unity than any other single factor since Ukraine regained independence three decades ago.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Feb 19, 2022

NATO must seize the current strategic opportunity in the Black Sea

By Harlan Ullman

The Ukraine crisis has underlined the need for NATO to develop a coherent Black Sea Strategy that will allow the alliance to counter the growing regional threat posed by Vladimir Putin's resurgent Russia.

Conflict Maritime Security

UkraineAlert

Feb 19, 2022

Will there be a “Munich Moment” in the Russia-Ukraine crisis?

By Thomas S. Warrick

A full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine could yet be prevented via a "Munich moment" bringing together Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden to strike a last-minute geopolitical deal, writes Thomas Warrick.

Conflict Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion

UkraineAlert

Feb 18, 2022

Putin’s absurd genocide claims cannot hide his war crimes in Ukraine

By Olexander Scherba

Russian President Vladimir Putin likes to claim that an anti-Russian genocide is underway in Ukraine but in reality he is upset by the historical loss of influence suffered by representatives of the Russian state.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Feb 17, 2022

What would constitute victory for Putin in his war with Ukraine?

By David Batashvili

In order to achieve his long-term foreign policy goal of subjugating a hostile Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin must militarily seize and occupy a large portion of what is the largest country wholly in Europe.

Conflict National Security

UkraineAlert

Feb 16, 2022

Putin has seriously wounded Ukraine’s economy without firing a single shot

By Anders Åslund

Even without physically invading Ukraine, Vladimir Putin is already causing the country great economic losses. The West cannot stand by and watch this happen, explains Anders Åslund.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Feb 15, 2022

The view from Ukraine: What happens if war breaks out tomorrow?

By Vitaliy Deynega

Vitaliy Deynega says Ukraine has never been more united or able to defend itself and argues that Putin's threatened invasion is a gesture of despair by an enemy who cannot accept he has already lost.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Feb 14, 2022

Russia may dodge sanctions by using Putin proxies to invade Ukraine

By Pavlo Kukhta, Viktoria Podhorna, Mykyta Poturaev, Yehor Chernev

With Russia facing the possibility of crushing sanctions over the threatened invasion of Ukraine, Putin may prefer to deploy hybrid forces made up of regular Russian troops and mercenaries posing as Ukrainian separatists.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Feb 11, 2022

Free trade and drones: Turkey and Ukraine strengthen strategic ties

By Christopher Isajiw

Ukraine's President Zelenskyy welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Kyiv in early February for a visit that underlined the deepening strategic partnership between the two Black Sea nations.

Conflict Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

Feb 11, 2022

Ukraine Crisis: Deterring Putin is expensive but much cheaper than war

By Andriy Zagorodnyuk

Deterring Putin from launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine is an expensive business, but it is infinitely cheaper than the price the international community will have to pay if Russia unleashes a major European war.

Conflict European Union