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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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UkraineAlert

Jan 20, 2021

US targets Putin’s pipelines from Baltic Sea to Balkans

By Diane Francis

Washington’s attention has recently focused on Nord Stream 2, but US officials also face similar challenges in Southern Europe, where Russia is once again using energy to advance its geopolitical interests.

Eastern Europe Geopolitics & Energy Security

UkraineAlert

Jan 20, 2021

Why Ukraine’s business community has high hopes for the Biden presidency

By Andy Hunder

Many Ukrainians are optimistic that incoming US President Joe Biden can play an historic role in helping Ukraine complete the country's post-Soviet transition and free itself once and for all from oligarch control.

Democratic Transitions Politics & Diplomacy

UkraineAlert

Jan 19, 2021

Ukraine’s cultural revival is a matter of national security

By Marina Pesenti

Culture and identity have been at the heart of the hybrid war waged by Russia against Ukraine for the past seven years.

Disinformation Nationalism

UkraineAlert

Jan 19, 2021

Russia’s Crimean crimes demand tougher sanctions

By Maria Tomak

Ukrainian civic society activists are calling on the international community to introduce personal sanctions against officials guilty of human rights abuses in Russian-occupied Crimea.

Civil Society Human Rights

UkraineAlert

Jan 19, 2021

Ukraine’s roadmap to an artificial intelligence future

By Vitaliy Goncharuk

Ukraine has recently adopted a National AI Development Strategy for the coming decade that aims to integrate artificial intelligence technologies into every sphere of the Ukrainian economy.

Defense Technologies Education

UkraineAlert

Jan 14, 2021

Putin’s war drives Ukraine towards true independence

By Peter Dickinson

Thirty years since the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine is no longer part of Vladimir Putin's informal empire but the country continues to struggle with the legacy of centuries spent under Russian domination.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Jan 14, 2021

Ukraine raised the alarm over weaponized social media long before Trump’s twitter ban

By Victor Tregubov

Tech giant Twitter's decision to block the account of US President Donald Trump has sparked a global free speech debate, but Ukraine has been warning for years about the dangers of weaponized social media.

Media Non-Traditional Threats

UkraineAlert

Jan 12, 2021

Climate change may prevent Ukraine from becoming an agricultural superpower

By Anna Ackermann

Kyiv's record-breaking weather in 2020 was further evidence of a changing climate that threatens to undermine Ukraine's emergence as an agricultural superpower and key player in global food security.

Climate Change & Climate Action Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 11, 2021

US sanctions Giuliani-linked Ukrainians over Russian bid to influence 2020 election

By Anders Åslund

The US Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on seven Ukrainians who stand accused of meddling in the recent American presidential election campaign on behalf of Russia.

Elections Russia

UkraineAlert

Jan 9, 2021

Russia remains unwilling to end seven-year Ukraine war

By Oleksii Reznikov

Ukraine has repeatedly demonstrated its readiness to make compromises in order to secure peace with Russia but Moscow has so far refused to reciprocate, argues Ukraine's Deputy PM Oleksii Reznikov.

Conflict Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding