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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

Jul 7, 2016

How Ukraine Can Better Treat the Invisible Wounds of War

By Danielle Johnson

Treating the “invisible wounds of war,” or psychological trauma, has become an important issue for international organizations in conflict zones. Ukraine is no exception. But the country is still learning how to best address this pressing mental health problem among combat veterans, internally displaced persons, and other vulnerable populations. Ukraine’s mental health professionals had little […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 7, 2016

Texan Makes Fortune in Ukraine’s Tech Sector

By Diane Francis

“If you play by the rules, you can do business in Ukraine.” Jason Mitura is an all-American guy who grew up in Dallas, Texas, but made his first fortune in Ukraine. His success is all the more noteworthy given that he speaks little Ukrainian. On a tip, he flew to Kyiv for the first time […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 6, 2016

Europe’s Forgotten War: Fighting in the Donbas Has Never Stopped

By James J. Coyle

Despite the existence of a ceasefire agreement, fighting in eastern Ukraine continues and is increasing. On July 5, three Ukrainian servicemen were killed and thirteen were wounded. The uptick in fighting began this past January, when Ukrainian officials reported up to seventy-one attacks a day and the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission noted the return of […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 5, 2016

Could Ukraine’s New Civil Service Law Be Undermined?

By Josh Cohen

In a major achievement for reformers, Ukraine’s parliament passed a revolutionary new civil service law last year that included key provisions related to the appointment of heads of local state administrations (LSAs). But if some members of parliament and perhaps even the presidential administration have their way, those elements of the law could soon be […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 1, 2016

Worried About Brexit? No, Scared, Says Ukraine’s Former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk

By Melinda Haring

“I’m not worried [about Brexit]. I’m scared,” said Arseniy Yatsenyuk at the Atlantic Council on June 30. In one of his first public appearances in Washington since stepping down as Ukraine’s prime minister on April 14, Yatsenyuk urged Europe to get its act together. Brexit, he said, is a “huge geopolitical crisis”: the United Kingdom’s […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 29, 2016

Now Is Not the Time to Scrap the Minsk Agreement

By John E. Herbst

A Reply to David J. Kramer Editor’s Note: On June 22, Ambassador John Herbst and David J. Kramer debated whether we should bury the Minsk agreement, the troubled ceasefire agreement in Ukraine, at an Atlantic Council event in Washington, DC. Their remarks have been adapted from the debate. Ukraine’s discussion of the war with Russia […]

Germany OSCE

UkraineAlert

Jun 28, 2016

Memo to NATO: Wake Up Before Putin Turns the Black Sea into a Russian Lake

By Stephen Blank

By invading Ukraine and annexing Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin has transformed the security situation in the Black Sea. Upon capturing those territories, Moscow lost no time in seizing Ukrainian energy facilities in the Black Sea and accelerating its ongoing military modernization there. As a result, Moscow has built a combined arms force of land, […]

NATO Russia

UkraineAlert

Jun 27, 2016

What Brexit Means for Ukraine

By Andreas Umland

After British voters approved a referendum to leave the EU on June 23, Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister for European Integration Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze said: “We respect the British citizens’ decision, but Ukraine feels sorry for these events. To my mind this will weaken the EU and it will have to concentrate on its own problems.”  The […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 27, 2016

The Dangerous Perspective of Theo Sommer

By Alexander J. Motyl

This time, Theo Sommer has outdone himself. After closing his eyes to the mass murders of the Soviet regime in an article published on May 31, the editor-at-large of Germany’s prestigious Die Zeit newspaper has now demonstrated in a just-published piece an alarming ignorance not just of Ukraine but of elementary strategic logic. The former […]

Germany Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 22, 2016

Thanks to Russia, Ukrainians Swell Ranks of Kyiv Patriarchate

By James J. Coyle

Russia’s continued meddling in Ukraine is driving Ukrainian citizens out of the Russian Orthodox Church. Instead, they are swelling the ranks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate. Traditionally, Ukraine has been home to the vast majority of Russian Orthodox Church members. In 1990, of the almost twelve thousand Orthodox communities throughout the Soviet Union, more […]

Russia 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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Content

UkraineAlert

Mar 11, 2021

Biden must persuade Germany and Austria to stop the “Schroederization” of Europe

By Anders Åslund and Benjamin L. Schmitt

US President Joe Biden needs to address the issue of Western politicians accepting Kremlin-linked jobs following their retirement from public service, argue Anders Åslund and Benjamin L. Schmitt.

Corruption Geopolitics & Energy Security

UkraineAlert

Mar 9, 2021

US sanctions Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky

By Peter Dickinson

The United States imposed sanctions against Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky on March 5 in a move that underlined American support for Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration.

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Mar 9, 2021

America’s Russia policy must not ignore human rights

By Dylan Myles-Primakoff

Dylan Myles-Primakoff outlines why any effective future US policy towards Russia must include a human rights dimension.

Human Rights Politics & Diplomacy

UkraineAlert

Mar 9, 2021

New report on Russia policy misses the mark

Atlantic Council experts voice their disagreement with a recent report on the role of human rights in US policy toward Russia.

Human Rights Politics & Diplomacy

UkraineAlert

Mar 7, 2021

Ukraine-EU border crossings in urgent need of upgrade

By Lesia Dubenko and Pavlo Kravchuk

Ukraine's EU border crossings play an important infrastructure role in the country's Euro-Atlantic integration but little has been done to upgrade border facilities since the country turned west in 2014.

Economy & Business Eurozone

UkraineAlert

Mar 4, 2021

Zelenskyy aims to end Ukraine’s oligarch era

By Iuliia Mendel

As events in recent weeks have shown, President Zelenskyy is prepared to challenge the power of Ukraine’s oligarchs everywhere from the energy and banking sectors to politics and the media.

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Mar 4, 2021

Ukraine can feed the world

By Roman Leshchenko

The launch of an agricultural land market will leave Ukraine well placed to assume an ever-greater role in global food security, says Ukraine's Minister of Agrarian Policy Roman Leshchenko.

Economy & Business Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 3, 2021

Difficult neighbors: How the Belarus crisis has strained ties between Minsk and Kyiv

By Vladislav Davidzon

The democratic awakening that has taken place in Belarus since August 2020 has fractured and realigned the economic, military, diplomatic, and security relationship between Minsk and Kyiv.

Belarus Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Mar 2, 2021

Ukrainian parliament finally moves to end multi-voting

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine scored a small but significant victory in the battle against political corruption on March 2 with the launch of a new voting system in the country’s parliament that should put an end to the practice of MPs voting on behalf of absent colleagues.

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Mar 1, 2021

Getting Ukraine’s security service reform right

By Oleksandra Ustinova and Steven Pifer

Ukrainian MPs are currently preparing a long-awaited bill to reform the country's security service. The initiative is encouraging but numerous measures are still required to distance Ukraine from the KGB past.

Democratic Transitions Intelligence