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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

Jun 3, 2022

Imperial myths and genocidal realities: 100 days of Putin’s Ukraine War

By Nestor Barchuk

Putin’s Ukraine war relies on a series of propaganda myths that reflect modern Russia’s failure to break with its imperialistic past. If Europe wants to achieve a lasting peace, it must work toward a post-imperial Russia.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

May 31, 2022

Memo to Henry Kissinger: Appeasing Putin means enabling genocide

By Stephen Blank

Appeasing Russia will not end the war in Ukraine or secure peace in our time. On the contrary, it will embolden Putin, prolong Ukraine’s pain, weaken the West, and destabilize the entire world, writes Stephen Blank.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

May 30, 2022

Now is the right time to launch a Digital Marshall Plan for Ukraine 

By Anatoly Motkin

As the world explores the challenges of rebuilding Ukraine, one smart option may be to initiate a Digital Marshall Plan that will play to Ukraine's existing tech strengths while securing the country's modernization.

Conflict Cybersecurity

UkraineAlert

May 27, 2022

South Ukraine holds the key to Putin’s dreams of a new Russian Empire

By Taras Kuzio

The biggest European battles since WWII are currently raging in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region but the ultimate outcome of the Russo-Ukrainian War is likely to be decided hundreds of miles to the south.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

May 27, 2022

Ukraine’s sports stars aim to provide nation with a wartime morale boost

By Mark Temnycky

Ukraine's national football team will take on Scotland in a 2022 World Cup playoff match on June 1 in Glasgow as they seek to provide their compatriots back home with a much-needed wartime morale boost.

Conflict Resilience & Society

UkraineAlert

May 24, 2022

Putin’s Mariupol Massacre is one of the 21st century’s worst war crimes

By Paul Niland

The Russian destruction of Mariupol ranks among the gravest crimes against humanity of the twenty-first century and sends a clear message to the international community that can be no compromise peace with Putin.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

May 24, 2022

The Putin puzzle: Why is the Russian dictator so obsessed with Ukraine?

By Bohdan Vitvitsky

Vladimir Putin has sought to justify his invasion of Ukraine by claiming the country has no right to exist but in reality modern Ukraine enjoys a level of democratic legitimacy that far exceeds his own authoritarian regime.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

May 22, 2022

Centuries of Russian oppression have forged Ukraine’s remarkable resilience

By Pete Shmigel

Centuries of traumatic experience with the horrors of Russian imperialism have shaped today’s Ukraine in ways that may actually contribute to Putin's defeat and help Ukrainians to build a better future for their country.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

May 21, 2022

Appeasement is the worst possible policy for both Ukraine and Russia

By Dennis Soltys

Western advocates of appeasement in Ukraine such as French President Emmanuel Macron fail to appreciate the deep-rooted imperial ambitions underpinning Vladimir Putin's campign to extinguish Ukrainian independence.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

May 18, 2022

Putin’s Black Sea blockade leaves millions facing global famine

By Andriy Zagorodnyuk

Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports is strangling the country’s economy and also threatening to spark a global food security crisis by preventing Ukrainian agricultural exports from reaching international markets.

Conflict Economy & Business

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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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Content

UkraineAlert

Mar 31, 2021

Ukraine’s unlikely new political heavyweight

By Adrian Karatnycky

Ukraine has an unlikely new political heavyweight. Oleksiy Danilov is Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council. He has recently become Ukraine’s most compelling voice for reform.

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Mar 30, 2021

Why the Black Sea could emerge as the world’s next great energy battleground

By Aura Sabadus

The Black Sea has vast untapped oil and gas reserves along with enormous renewable energy possibilities. This makes it potentially one of the world's great energy battlegrounds in the decades ahead.

Eastern Europe Geopolitics & Energy Security

UkraineAlert

Mar 30, 2021

Putin plots Ukraine peace talks without Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Ukrainian diplomats have voiced alarm over Russian plans to hold Ukraine peace talks without Ukraine’s participation. The news has revived fears that Moscow aims to bypass Kyiv and reach agreement directly with the West over Ukraine’s geopolitical future.

Conflict France

UkraineAlert

Mar 26, 2021

Five reasons why Ukraine rejected Vladimir Putin’s “Russian World”

By Taras Kuzio

Russian President Vladimir Putin's efforts to force Ukrainian acceptance of the country's place within the "Russian World" have proved disastrous and led to the collapse of Russian influence in Ukraine.

Conflict Nationalism

UkraineAlert

Mar 25, 2021

The risks of rushing to internet voting in Ukraine

By Serhii Savelii and Meredith Applegate

Ukraine’s vision for digital transformation is ambitious and includes holding online voting for all elections and referendums, but this vision fails to take into account numerous practical obstacles and risks.

Cybersecurity Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Mar 23, 2021

Returning the US-Ukraine relationship to normalcy

By John E. Herbst

The election of Joe Biden has raised the welcome prospect of a return to normalcy in US-Ukraine ties but the past two months have demonstrated that this return to the norm will not be without challenges.

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Mar 22, 2021

Maidan’s metamorphosis mirrors Ukraine’s national coming of age

By Peter Dickinson

Over the past three decades of Ukrainian independence, Kyiv's Independence Square has undergone a post-Soviet metamorphosis that mirrors Ukraine's own national coming of age.

Democratic Transitions Resilience & Society

UkraineAlert

Mar 22, 2021

Young Ukrainian mayor offers hope of a new politics

By Brian Mefford

In November 2020, residents of the western Ukrainian city Rivne voted for a dramatic change in the local political status quo by electing 34-year-old Oleksandr Tretyak as their new mayor.

Democratic Transitions Elections

UkraineAlert

Mar 21, 2021

Germany’s Greens vow to block Putin’s pipeline

By Diane Francis

Germany's Greens have confirmed plans to block Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline if, as expected, they form part of the new German coalition government following Bundestag elections in September 2021.

Geopolitics & Energy Security Germany

UkraineAlert

Mar 18, 2021

Vladimir Putin does not want peace with Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy entered office in 2019 promising to negotiate a settlement with Vladimir Putin. He now appears to have recognized that Putin does not actually want peace with Ukraine.

Conflict Democratic Transitions