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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 23, 2024

Pride of Ukraine: Oleksandr Usyk’s historic victory boosts wartime morale

By Joshua Stein

Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk’s remarkable achievement in unifying the heavyweight division for the first time this century has provided war-torn Ukraine with a welcome morale boost, writes Joshua Stein.

Conflict Resilience & Society

UkraineAlert

May 23, 2024

Ukraine faces long-term mental health challenges among veteran community

By Claire Szewczyk

Far away from the front lines of the country’s ongoing war with Russia, growing numbers of Ukrainian veterans are facing up to the psychological aftermath of their military service, writes Claire Szewczyk.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

May 23, 2024

President Zelenskyy’s term is over but he’s still a legitimate wartime leader

By Elena Davlikanova

Kremlin attempts to question the legitimacy of Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy due to the end of his official term in office ignore the obvious impossibility of holding elections amid Europe’s biggest invasion since World War II, writes Elena Davlikanova.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

May 21, 2024

Ukraine’s Western allies should fear Russian victory not Russian defeat

By Peter Dickinson

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says his country’s allies fear the potential geopolitical consequences of Russian defeat, but Russian victory is a far more realistic and alarming prospect, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

May 21, 2024

Ukraine’s soccer stars aim for Euro 2024 glory amid Russian invasion

By Mark Temnycky

The Ukrainian national soccer team heads to Euro 2024 in Germany this summer hoping to provide their war-weary compatriots with a much-needed morale boost, writes Mark Temnycky.

Conflict Freedom and Prosperity

UkraineAlert

May 16, 2024

Anger and defiance in Kharkiv as advancing Russian troops draw closer

By Maria Avdeeva

The mood in Kharkiv is a mix of anger, anxiety, and defiance as Ukraine’s second city prepares to defend itself against a new Russian offensive, writes Maria Avdeeva.

Conflict Drones

UkraineAlert

May 15, 2024

Georgia’s government uses Kremlin playbook to consolidate grip on power

By Lucy Minicozzi-Wheeland

The Georgian government’s efforts to adopt a Kremlin-style law imposing restrictions on civil society has sparked huge protests and led to questions over the country’s future geopolitical direction, writes Lucy Minicozzi-Wheeland.

Civil Society Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

May 14, 2024

Russia’s growing kamikaze drone fleet tests Ukraine’s limited air defenses

By Marcel Plichta

Russia’s expanding fleet of kamikaze drones poses an evolving security threat to Ukraine that tests the country’s limited air defense capabilities, writes Marcel Plichta.

Conflict Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

May 14, 2024

Putin appoints economist as defense minister as Russia plans for long war

By Mercedes Sapuppo

The appointment of a technocrat economist as Russia’s new Defense Minister is a clear sign that Putin preparing the country for a long war with Ukraine and the West, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

Conflict Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

May 14, 2024

Putin expands invasion as outgunned Ukraine waits for Western weapons

By Mykola Bielieskov

Russia has opened a new front in the invasion of Ukraine with a cross-border offensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region as Putin seeks to capitalize on a window of opportunity before fresh Western aid reaches Ukrainian front line troops, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Conflict Drones

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Content

UkraineAlert

Jun 17, 2019

One month into the Zelenskyy presidency and Ukraine’s still here

By Steven Pifer

Volodymyr Zelenskyy became Ukraine’s sixth president on May 20. The political neophyte’s election raised a host of questions about lack of governing experience, connections to oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, the composition of his inner circle, and his priorities once in office. One month into Zelenskyy’s presidency, those questions still require answers, and we have yet to […]

Conflict Corruption

UkraineAlert

Jun 17, 2019

What Zelenskyy should say in Berlin

By Diane Francis

Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union broke up the empire and its people have paid a monstrous price for generations. It’s time that Europe finally recognized its responsibility to this worthy nation, yearning to be free from Russian tyranny.

Energy Markets & Governance Eurozone

UkraineAlert

Jun 17, 2019

Why are donors afraid of the prosecutor’s office?

By Yuri Polakiwsky

It’s no secret that the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine has failed to be transformed in the post-Maidan period. But who is to blame? A high-level diplomat representing a G-7 country recently lamented that Ukraine’s major western partners deserve a large share of the blame for not providing direct assistance to the office. “You don’t […]

Corruption Elections

UkraineAlert

Jun 13, 2019

One Ukraine? Think again.

By Roman Solchanyk

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s recent landslide victory in Ukraine’s presidential election over incumbent Petro Poroshenko has spawned intense speculation. The most intriguing is the assertion that we are witnessing the long-awaited emergence of a “new” Ukraine that is no longer divided along overlapping regional, ethnic, and linguistic fault lines because Zelenskyy won in all of the country’s […]

Elections Nationalism

UkraineAlert

Jun 9, 2019

Zelensky, Zelenskiy, Zelenskyy: spelling confusion doesn’t help Ukraine  

By Peter Dickinson

It would be unfair to expect Ukraine’s novice president to take over the reins of Europe’s largest country seamlessly. However, knowing how to spell his own name in English would seem a more realistic expectation. This did not appear to be the case during the first days of his administration, or at least that was […]

Disinformation Media

UkraineAlert

Jun 4, 2019

How Kolomoisky does business in the United States

By Anders Åslund

The PrivatBank case shows that dirty money is not necessarily concentrated in the big cities and in real estate but can penetrate the real economy.

Corruption Financial Regulation

UkraineAlert

Jun 4, 2019

Seven dangers of engaging with the occupied Donbas—and opportunities for the new Ukrainian president

By Petro Burkovskyi

Ukraine’s new president says he wants to end the Russian-backed war in the country’s east. However, it won’t be easy. There are at least seven dangers of engaging with the occupied territories of the Donbas. The first danger is that a class of highly educated and trained leaders is completely absent. All key positions, whether […]

Conflict Corruption

UkraineAlert

Jun 4, 2019

Cheap gas is too costly

By Oleh Havrylyshyn

On May 20, Volodymyr Zelenskiy was inaugurated Ukraine’s seventh president. In his inaugural address, he demonstrated a resoluteness that should put an end to the annoying journalistic cliché of a “comedian-president.” Taking such firm actions as dissolving parliament and requesting the resignations of key officials within minutes of taking office in front of the very […]

Central Europe Energy Markets & Governance

UkraineAlert

Jun 4, 2019

Zelenskyy’s golden opportunity to challenge the oligarchs and bring real news to Ukraine’s airwaves

By Janek Lasocki

Over the past five years, the foundations have been laid for a quality public service broadcaster. If successful, it could make a profound difference to public debate in Ukraine.

Democratic Transitions Elections

UkraineAlert

Jun 3, 2019

The right man for the right time  

By Andy Hunder

“God probably has a great sense of humor,” reckons Borys Gudziak, president of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv. The US-born archbishop transformed what was designed to be the Soviet communist party’s atheist ideology center in western Ukraine into a thriving catholic university. The irony of this transformation is not lost on him. Only […]

Civil Society Nationalism