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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, 2024

Ukraine seeks future role as EU’s eastern customs hub

By Vladyslav Suvorov

The ongoing reform of Ukraine’s customs service and the implementation of EU standards are fundamental for the country’s further European integration, writes Vladyslav Suvorov.

Conflict Economy & Business

UkraineAlert

Jan 18, 2024

Europe steps up support for Ukraine in fight against Putin’s Russia

By Diane Francis

There is now a growing realization across the continent that Putin is a European problem, and it is primarily up to Europe to stop him, writes Diane Francis.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Jan 16, 2024

Confident Putin boasts of Russian “conquests” in Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin is now openly referring to “Russian conquests” in Ukraine as he grows visibly in confidence amid mounting signs of Western weakness, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Jan 16, 2024

Russia faces fresh accusations of targeting journalists in Ukraine

By Mercedes Sapuppo

A series of Russian attacks on hotels used by international journalists has sparked fresh accusations that Moscow is deliberately targeting the media in Ukraine, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jan 11, 2024

Arsenal of Autocracy: North Korea and Iran are arming Russia in Ukraine

By Olivia Yanchik

Together with Iran and North Korea, Russia has succeeded in establishing an Arsenal of Autocrats that now threatens to plunge the world into a new era of war and insecurity, writes Olivia Yanchik.

Arms Control Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jan 11, 2024

EU aspirations and Russian realities: Georgia at the geopolitical crossroads

By Zviad Adzinbaia

2024 is shaping up to be a crucial year for Georgia’s EU aspirations. This could have implications for the wider region, while also challenging Russia’s own imperial ambitions in Georgia and beyond, writes Zviad Adzinbaia.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jan 9, 2024

Ukraine is on the front lines of global cyber security

By Joshua Stein

Ukraine is currently on the front lines of global cyber security and the primary target for groundbreaking new Russian cyber attacks, writes Joshua Stein.

Conflict Cybersecurity

UkraineAlert

Jan 9, 2024

The case for a new Ukrainian Constitution

By Brian Mefford

As Ukraine fights for its survival as a nation, it may be time to adopt a new constitution that matches the country’s current realities and future ambitions, writes Brian Mefford.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jan 9, 2024

How strong is Russian public support for the invasion of Ukraine?

By Vladimir Milov

Many in the West argue that the majority of Russians support the invasion of Ukraine. However, nuanced analysis of Russian polling data indicates this is not the case, and suggests the Russian public is actually more concerned with how soon the war will end, writes Vladimir Milov.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jan 4, 2024

To defeat Putin in a long war, Ukraine must switch to active defense in 2024

By Mykola Bielieskov

By embracing a strategy of active defense in 2024, Kyiv can achieve the twin goals of preventing any major Russian advances and creating conditions that strongly favor Ukraine in what is increasingly a war of attrition, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Conflict Defense Policy

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UkraineAlert

May 3, 2019

Children as a tool: how Russia militarizes kids in the Donbas and Crimea

By Iryna Matviyishyn

With an eye to the future, officials in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine are waging a campaign of “patriotic education” aimed at reaching the hearts and minds of those most susceptible to ideological persuasion: children. Russia has always used the militarization of public life to indoctrinate local populations and continues that practice today. Currently, thousands […]

Conflict Human Rights

UkraineAlert

May 2, 2019

Time for Ukraine to compete with Russia

By Grigory Frolov

Showman Volodymyr Zelenskiy will soon be sworn in as president of Ukraine. Last month he crushed incumbent President Petro Poroshenko in a remarkable landslide. Zelenskiy’s victory was noteworthy in Ukraine, but it’s also making headlines across the former Soviet Union. While Zelenskiy is inexperienced and his policies aren’t well defined, he knows how to engage […]

European Union Inclusive Growth

UkraineAlert

May 2, 2019

Ukraine’s new language law rights historic wrongs

By Andrej Lushnycky

For centuries the Ukrainian language was relegated to the status of a “peasant language” by the foreign rulers of the lands that make up the country today and by foreign scholars in Europe and abroad who perpetuated this Russian imperial falsehood. More recently, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited a Soviet political […]

Civil Society Nationalism

UkraineAlert

Apr 29, 2019

Vladimir Putin does Shakespeare

By Stephen Blank

Vladimir Putin’s newest display of talent is his excelling in theatrics. He recently elected to play Macbeth or Richard III. Having nothing left to offer Russia as the indices of immiseration pile up, Putin’s recourse to imperial theatrics has dramatically accelerated. But ultimately this performance, like those of his predecessors on stage and in reality, […]

Conflict Human Rights

UkraineAlert

Apr 26, 2019

What is wrong with the Ukrainian economy?

By Anders Åslund

Construction is booming in Kyiv, Ukraine, but not the rest of the economy. A major reason is that Ukrainians with some extra savings do not put their money into banks but buy additional apartments instead. Others keep their savings in cash. On average, Ukrainian MPs keep $700,000 at home. Those who have a lot of […]

Financial Regulation Fiscal and Structural Reform

UkraineAlert

Apr 25, 2019

10 ways the west should engage with Ukraine after 2019 elections

By Chatham House

Five years after the annexation of Crimea and the instigation of conflict in the Donbas, the reasons for continued sanctions on Russia have not gone away. Crimea is still occupied. War grinds on in the Donbas. Ukraine held presidential elections this spring and will hold parliamentary elections in the fall. Whatever the results, events in […]

Defense Policy Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Apr 25, 2019

What Zelenskiy’s victory means for Ukraine

By David J. Kramer

The temptation in Kyiv and elsewhere is to look past Sunday’s overwhelming victory by upstart Volodymyr Zelenskiy over incumbent Petro Poroshenko and try to divine what it means for Ukraine. This piece will yield to that temptation—but after acknowledging the importance of what happened Sunday and throughout the election campaign. Free and fair elections in […]

Democratic Transitions Elections

UkraineAlert

Apr 24, 2019

How history will judge Poroshenko

By Alexander J. Motyl

The majority of Ukraine’s voters and pundits detest President Petro Poroshenko who lost his chance at a second term on April 21. However, history will prove them wrong and judge him as Ukraine’s most successful leader. Indeed, Poroshenko will go down in the annals as the man who consolidated Ukraine’s state, nation, democracy, and the […]

Democratic Transitions Elections

UkraineAlert

Apr 23, 2019

Why Poroshenko lost

By Dennis Soltys

On April 21, television star Volodymyr Zelenskiy crushed incumbent president Petro Poroshenko in the second round of Ukraine’s presidential election. Even though Zelenskiy has never held elected office, voters were so tired of corruption and economic stagnation that they were willing to take a risk. Zelenskiy ran an unusual campaign. He made few programmatic promises […]

Democratic Transitions Elections

UkraineAlert

Apr 23, 2019

Transition challenges for an outsider president

By Adrian Karatnycky

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, elected to Ukraine’s presidency Sunday in a landslide, may be one of the least prepared leaders to head a democracy in world history. Not only is he an outsider, whose main experience of politics has been to play a president in a satirical television program, he has done little to prepare for the job. […]

Democratic Transitions Elections