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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

May 18, 2022

Disarming Russia’s energy weapon: Ukraine begins electricity exports to Moldova

By Aura Sabadus

Less than two months after synchronizing with the European electricity grid, Ukraine has begun energy exports to neighboring Moldova in a move that is likely to further dent Russia’s grip over the region.

Conflict
Energy Markets & Governance

UkraineAlert

May 17, 2022

Vladimir Putin is running out of options to avoid defeat in Ukraine

By Taras Kuzio

Vladimir Putin expected a quick victory in Ukraine but now finds himself facing a catastrophic defeat that will shatter Russia’s pretensions to military superpower status while threatening Putin’s own authoritarian regime.

Conflict
Crisis Management

UkraineAlert

May 16, 2022

Ukraine War Diary: Everyday life is slowly returning to Fortress Kyiv

By Vitaly Sych

Ukraine War Diary: A semblance of normality is returning to life in the capital but Kyiv remains a fortress city where a strong military presence and an absence of children serve as constant reminders that the country is at war.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

May 15, 2022

Will Putin use chemical weapons in Ukraine?

By Ben Connable

Fears are mounting that Vladimir Putin may seek to save his failing Ukraine invasion by deploying chemical weapons, but there are reasons to believe that the Russian army is not capable of biological warfare.

Arms Control
Conflict

UkraineAlert

May 15, 2022

Western advocates of appeasement need a crash course in Putinology

By Anders Åslund

The war in Ukraine has exposed the fundamental failure of international audiences to appreciate the true nature of modern Russia. Western advocates of appeasement clearly need a crash course in Putinology.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

May 14, 2022

Ukraine wins Eurovision as European voters show song contest solidarity

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s Eurovision victory is a soft power success story that underlines the country’s dominance over Russia on the information front while highlighting the strength of international solidary and support for Ukraine.

Conflict
Europe & Eurasia

UkraineAlert

May 12, 2022

Independent Ukraine’s first president Leonid Kravchuk dies aged 88

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s first post-Soviet president Leonid Kravchuk passed away on May 10. He is best remembered for his leading role in the 1991 Ukrainian Declaration of Independence and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Conflict
Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

May 12, 2022

Putin’s Imperial War: Russia unveils plans to annex southern Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Kremlin officials have underlined the expansionist imperial agenda driving Putin’s Ukraine war by announcing plans to officially annex Ukraine’s Kherson Oblast and incorporate it into the Russian Federation.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

May 11, 2022

Kazakhstan cancels Victory Day in protest over Putin’s Ukraine War

By Wilder Alejandro Sánchez, Kamila Auyezova

Kazakhstan’s recent decision to cancel the country’s annual WWII Victory Day parade was a small but significant indication of Nur-Sultan’s opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Central Asia
Conflict

UkraineAlert

May 8, 2022

Vladimir Putin’s WWII victory cult is a recipe for international aggression

By Andrej Lushnycky

Vladimir Putin has transformed Russia’s traditional Victory Day commemorations marking the defeat of Nazi Germany into a nationalistic celebration of militarism that helps justify Moscow’s war of aggression in Ukraine.

Civil Society
Conflict

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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

Jul 6, 2020

Czar Putin wants a new age of empires

By Nataliia Popovych and Danylo Lubkivsky

In both word and deed, Putin has made it clear that he rejects today’s rules-based international order and seeks to reverse the verdict of 1991. His vision for a new age of empires represents an existential challenge to the West.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Jul 2, 2020

Analysis: Ukraine’s central bank governor quits post citing “political pressure”

By Peter Dickinson

National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Governor Yakiv Smolii submitted his resignation on July 1 in what was widely seen as a major blow to Ukraine’s reform agenda. What does this mean for the country’s future direction?

Economy & Business
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 1, 2020

Ukraine’s central bank chief resigns leaving Zelenskyy’s reform credentials in tatters

By Anders Åslund

Ukraine’s reform agenda suffered a serious blow on July 1 when Yakiv Smolii, the highly respected governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), resigned due to what he called “systematic political pressure.”

Financial Regulation
Macroeconomics

UkraineAlert

Jun 30, 2020

Ukraine’s powerful Interior Minister Avakov under fire over police reform failures

By Liliane Bivings

Ukraine's post-2014 police reforms were initially hailed as a success but have since unraveled alarmingly. Many now blame powerful Interior Minister Arsen Avakov for blocking genuine law enforcement reform.

Political Reform
Rule of Law

UkraineAlert

Jun 29, 2020

How fake news helped hide Soviet genocide in Ukraine

By Georgiy Kent

Stalin’s man-made famine in 1930s Ukraine ranks as one of the worst crimes of the twentieth century but it remains relatively unknown. The new movie "Mr. Jones" seeks to counter decades of disinformation.

Disinformation
Media

UkraineAlert

Jun 27, 2020

Russia is quietly occupying Ukraine’s information space

By Taras Kuzio

Viktor Medvedchuk is Ukraine's leading pro-Kremlin politician and a personal friend of Vladimir Putin. Medvedchuk's expanding media empire is sparking concerns over Russian influence in Ukraine's information space.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Jun 25, 2020

How Russia weaponizes the language issue in Ukraine

By Iryna Matviyishyn

Critics of Ukraine's 2019 Language Law claim that it goes too far in promoting the Ukrainian language at the expense of Russian. Others claim attempts to politicize language policy will only help Putin.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Jun 24, 2020

The US is defending Europe by blocking Putin’s pipeline

By Diane Francis

Berlin has slammed US plans to impose harsh new sanctions on Vladimir Putin's Nord Stream 2 pipeline, but critics see the project as a direct threat to European security and energy independence.

European Union
Geopolitics & Energy Security

UkraineAlert

Jun 24, 2020

Ukraine needs EU rules to avoid global gas imbalances

By Aura Sabadus

More than 50 European companies may be barred from exporting gas to Ukraine during the peak storage season if the Ukrainian and Slovak gas transmission system operators fail to reach a solution for an alternative transport route during an unplanned pipeline outage this summer.

Central Europe
Energy Markets & Governance

UkraineAlert

Jun 23, 2020

What John Bolton tells us about President Trump’s Ukraine policy

By Anders Åslund

Former White House national security advisor John Bolton's new book “The Room Where It Happened” is an extraordinary read that portrays President Trump as being deeply hostile towards Ukraine.

Politics & Diplomacy
Russia