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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

Jan 18, 2022

Ben Wallace: Putin’s bogus NATO fears disguise Ukraine ambitions

By Peter Dickinson

As geopolitical tensions continue to mount in Eastern Europe, UK Defense Minister Ben Wallace has published an essay exposing the chilling reality behind Russian President Vladimir Putin's imperial ambitions in Ukraine.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Jan 17, 2022

Countering the growing Russian naval threat in the Black Sea region

By Skyler Blake

With Russian President Vladimir Putin currently threatening to escalate his eight-year war against Ukraine, it is now vital to implement an effective NATO security strategy for the Black Sea region.

Conflict Maritime Security

UkraineAlert

Jan 16, 2022

Kyiv Diary: Ukrainians await Putin’s invasion and Poroshenko’s arrest

By Vladislav Davidzon

The threat of a full-scale Russian invasion and the prospect of a major political scandal sparked by the arrest of former president Petro Poroshenko have failed to induce panic among the hardy crisis veterans of Kyiv.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jan 16, 2022

Calls grow within Germany for tougher stance towards Putin’s Russia

By Alexander Motyl

German foreign policy experts have published an appeal demanding Germany’s Russia policy be fundamentally changed from tacit encouragement to open resistance of Vladimir Putin’s expansionist designs.

Conflict Corruption

UkraineAlert

Jan 15, 2022

Moscow’s Memory Wars: Putin seeks to whitewash Russia’s Stalinist past

By Gina Lentine

Russia's recent move to shut down the Memorial International human rights organization is part of an ongoing Kremlin campaign to rehabilitate the Soviet era and whitewash the crimes of Russia's Stalinist past.

Civil Society Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Jan 14, 2022

Western weakness has emboldened Putin and invited Russian aggression

By Tinatin Khidasheli

The West's weak response to repeated instances of Russian aggression in the ex-USSR has emboldened Vladimir Putin and created today's European security crisis, says former Georgian defense minister Tinatin Khidasheli.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Jan 13, 2022

Russia Crisis: War fears mount as West rejects Putin’s ultimatum

By Peter Dickinson

A week of high-stakes meetings between Kremlin officials and their US, NATO and OSCE counterparts has failed to defuse tensions in Eastern Europe or reduce the threat of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Conflict NATO

UkraineAlert

Jan 12, 2022

Cutting off Russia from SWIFT will really sting

By Harley Balzer

While Russia has attempted to reduce its dependence on the SWIFT payment system, it remains vulnerable to a sanctions cut-off in the event of a new Kremlin offensive in Putin's eight-year undeclared war against Ukraine.

China Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jan 11, 2022

Ukrainians call on US Senate to sanction Putin’s pipeline weapon

By Ukrainian civil society representatives

US senators are set to vote in the coming days on a bill for new sanctions against Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Ukrainian civil society representatives have issued an appeal calling on senators to back sanctions.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Jan 10, 2022

The US and NATO must attack Vladimir Putin’s intimidation strategy

By Harlan Ullman

The current US approach to the crisis with Russia is predictable and conventional. The principle author of the "shock and awe" doctrine, Harlan Ullman, believes it is time to turn Putin's intimidation tactics against him.

Conflict Defense Policy

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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

UkraineAlert

Jan 26, 2021

Russia’s Navalny protests provoke mixed emotions in Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine has good reasons to support the current Russian protests against Kremlin corruption, but many Ukrainians remain suspicious of protest leader Alexei Navalny's troubling nationalist background.

Conflict Corruption

UkraineAlert

Jan 22, 2021

Ukraine’s historic gas sector reforms are under threat

By Aura Sabadus

The transformation of Ukraine's gas sector is widely seen as one of the few reform success stories since the country's 2014 Revolution of Dignity, but recent political decisions are placing this progress in doubt.

Geopolitics & Energy Security Oil and Gas