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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.

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Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Jun 26, 2018

What Ukraine’s Anticorruption Warriors Forget, And Why It May Weaken the State

By Adrian Karatnycky and Alexander J. Motyl

Daria Kaleniuk’s rejoinder to our Foreign Affairs article, “How Western Anticorruption Policy Is Failing Ukraine,” misses our main point. We asserted that Western anticorruption policy was failing because it had been improperly sequenced, especially with regard to judicial reform. Kaleniuk indirectly admits this by pointing to the urgent need to create an anticorruption court three years […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 26, 2018

Democracy Is Under Major Attack in Moldova. Is Anyone Paying Attention?

By Dumitru Alaiba

Last week a court in Moldova’s capital of Chișinău annulled the popular vote in local elections, which were won by pro-European opposition leader Andrei Năstase. The formal grounds for canceling the results are absurd; on election day the candidate urged people to vote on social media. This is no reason to block an elected official […]

Moldova

UkraineAlert

Jun 25, 2018

Q&A: What’s Behind Moldova’s Massive Protests?

By Melinda Haring

Protesters are taking to the streets of Moldova’s capital of Chisinau again. On June 3, Andrei Nastase was elected mayor of Chisinau with 52.5% of the vote. Nastase, a pro-European prosecutor and anti-corruption activist, defeated Socialist Ion Ceban who favors closer ties to Moscow. On June 19, a Chisinau court struck down the election results, […]

Moldova Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 25, 2018

Hunger Strike Points to Missed PR Opportunity for Putin Regime

By Diane Francis

The World Cup in Russia is a Potemkin football extravaganza or a fancy façade designed to depict the country as advanced and civilized. In reality, it’s neither. Facts are that in recent international sporting events Russia’s athletes have been caught doping on a massive scale, or, alternatively, Putin has used festivities to camouflage the invasion […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 21, 2018

There’s More to Ukraine than Krieg, Krise, and Krim (War, Crisis, Crimea): How Germans See the Country

By Andreas Umland

Both Germany and Ukraine have special significance for the European project. Germany is Western Europe’s economically and demographically most significant country, while Ukraine is Eastern Europe’s largest and a geopolitical pivot point. The historical links between Ukrainians and Germans run deep. And yet little attention has been paid to the nature of the relationship between […]

Germany Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 20, 2018

Ten Ukrainian Technologies You May Already Be Using

By Ruslan Minich

What do Snapchat filters, liquid jet scalpels, Uber for yachts, and virtual reality gloves have in common? They are all decisively modern innovations that have emerged at the cutting edge of technological development—and they all demonstrate the ingenuity and economic dynamism of twenty-first century Ukraine.

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 20, 2018

Ukraine’s Got a Real Problem with Far-Right Violence (And No, RT Didn’t Write This Headline)

By Josh Cohen

It sounds like the stuff of Kremlin propaganda, but it’s not. Last week Hromadske Radio revealed that Ukraine’s Ministry of Youth and Sports is funding the neo-Nazi group C14 to promote “national patriotic education projects” in the country. On June 8, the Ministry announced that it will award C14 a little less than $17,000 for a […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 18, 2018

Five Ways the Kremlin Can Meddle in Ukraine’s Big Election

By Mykola Vorobiov

On June 15, Yulia Tymoshenko launched the start of Ukraine’s presidential election season with a two-and-half hour speech in Kyiv, Ukraine. With twenty-nine percent of voters telling pollsters they haven’t made their minds up for the race slated for March 31, the field is wide open. But it’s not too soon to start worrying about […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 15, 2018

They speak Russian in Crimea, but that doesn’t make it part of Russia

By Peter Dickinson

Away from the frontlines of the conflict, the myth of Ukraine’s pro-Kremlin Russian-speakers never really needed debunking.

Conflict Nationalism

UkraineAlert

Jun 14, 2018

Will Ukraine’s New Anticorruption Court Make a Difference?

By Anastasia Krasnosilska

On June 7, Ukraine’s parliament finally adopted a long-awaited law that paves the way for the establishment of an anticorruption court. Members of parliament had only one hour to evaluate the draft before voting, and the final text was released on June 13. Ukrainians have been waiting for four long years for justice. None of […]

Ukraine

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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

Jul 6, 2021

National Bank of Ukraine prioritizes green finance

By Kyrylo Shevchenko

The National Bank of Ukraine's recently updated strategy document identifies green finance as a key focus for the institution in the coming years as NBU officials look to further Ukraine's European integration.

Climate Change & Climate Action Energy & Environment

UkraineAlert

Jul 6, 2021

UKRAINE AT 30: Europe’s frontline democracy

By Brian Mefford

Ukrainians will celebrate 30 years of independence in summer 2021 with their country serving as the frontline of European democracy following three decades of tumultuous change.

Democratic Transitions Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 5, 2021

Could a judicial ombudsman help solve Ukraine’s rule of law problems?

By Bate Toms

One possible solution to Ukraine's rule of law problems is the creation of a Judicial Ombudsman to act as a prosecutor and provide judicial oversight in line with the model successfully used in Sweden.

Corruption Political Reform

UkraineAlert

Jul 1, 2021

The need for a renewed NATO

By French Hill

As the principal military pillar of the transatlantic partnership, NATO is essential to meeting the security challenges America and her allies face. However, if it is to be effective, it must evolve. It has done so in the past, and it can do so now, argues Rep. French Hill.

Europe & Eurasia NATO

UkraineAlert

Jun 30, 2021

For Ukrainians, Euro 2020 resonates beyond football

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine's success at the Euro 2020 European championship is about much more than football as the country struggles to defend itself against Russian imperial aggression and assert an independent identity.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Jun 27, 2021

Putin’s Crimean crackdown continues: Radio Free Europe journalist targeted

By Diane Francis

Russia has arrested and jailed freelance Radio Free Europe journalist Vladislav Yesypenko in a prosecution that appears to be part of a broader Kremlin campaign against the US-funded media outlet.

Conflict Human Rights

UkraineAlert

Jun 27, 2021

Ukraine’s Russia sanctions target Putin’s inner circle

By Anders Åslund

Ukraine’s recently updated sanctions against Russia are the most comprehensive since 2014 and demonstrate that the Ukrainian government understands the value of targeting people close to Vladimir Putin.

Conflict Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion

UkraineAlert

Jun 25, 2021

British warship challenges Russian claims to Crimea

By Peter Dickinson

A British warship sailed through Crimean waters on June 23 in what was widely seen as a reminder that the international community rejects Russia’s purported 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula.

Conflict Maritime Security

UkraineAlert

Jun 24, 2021

Putin blames anyone but himself for loss of Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently published an op-ed accusing the US of staging an anti-Russian coup in Ukraine, but in reality nobody has done more to erode Russian influence in Ukraine than Putin himself.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Jun 24, 2021

Ukraine offers hope in an increasingly homophobic neighborhood

By Adrian Hoefer, Shelby Magid

While Ukrainian attitudes towards the LGBTQI community are still far behind the levels of acceptance encountered elsewhere in the West, Ukraine’s modest progress offers hope in a region where intolerance is on the rise.

Civil Society Human Rights