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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

Oct 31, 2023

Attempted airport pogrom highlights rising antisemitism in Putin’s Russia

By Joshua Stein

An attempted pogrom in southern Russia’s Republic of Dagestan has sent shock waves around the world and raised serious questions about the rising tide of antisemitism in Putin’s Russia, writes Joshua Stein.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Oct 26, 2023

Arming Ukraine is cheap compared to the far higher price of Russian victory

By Peter Dickinson

Anyone concerned by the cost of supporting the Ukrainian war effort should consider the far higher price the Western world would have to pay in order to stop Putin following a Russian victory in Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

Oct 24, 2023

Ukraine’s EU membership bid set to receive big boost in November

By Peter Dickinson

The European Commission is expected to give Ukraine the green light to begin EU accession talks in early November, marking a significant step forward in the country’s European integration ambitions, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Oct 24, 2023

Battle of Avdiivka: Putin’s new offensive continues despite heavy Russian losses

By Olivia Yanchik

Russia has returned to the offensive in Ukraine in recent weeks with a major assault on the town of Avdiivka. The Russian offensive continues despite reports of catastrophic losses, underlining Putin’s determination to secure victory at any price in Ukraine, writes Olivia Yanchik.

Conflict
Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Oct 23, 2023

Alsu Kurmasheva arrest: Russia has detained two US journalists this year

By Mercedes Sapuppo

The Russian authorities have detained Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva for failing to register as a foreign agent, making her the second US journalist to be jailed in Russia so far this year.

Conflict
Freedom and Prosperity

UkraineAlert

Oct 23, 2023

Lend-Lease Act expiration will not affect current US aid to Ukraine

By Olivia Yanchik

A Lend-Lease Act introduced by the US in spring 2022 to support Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression has now expired, but it may be worth renewing as a tool to bypass possible political obstacles to aid, writes Olivia Yanchik.

Defense Industry
Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2023

Ukraine needs electoral reform now for resilient postwar elections

By Peter Erben, Gio Kobakhidze

Prioritizing electoral reform now will position Ukraine for postwar democratic resilience and will underscore the nation’s dedication to sustaining and improving its democratic traditions, even in the face of great adversity.

Conflict
Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2023

Zelenskyy should say a Churchillian “no” to wartime elections in Ukraine

By Alan Riley

If Winston Churchill were still with us, he would surely be advising Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to ignore mounting international pressure to call elections in wartime Ukraine, writes Alan Riley.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2023

War risk insurance can contribute to Ukrainian victory over Putin’s Russia

By Yulia Svyrydenko

War risk insurance can play a key role in helping Ukraine to achieve victory on the economic front of the war with Russia, writes Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko.

Conflict
Economy & Business

UkraineAlert

Oct 17, 2023

Ukraine receives potentially game-changing long-range US missiles

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine has finally received long-range ATACMS missiles from the United States and has begun deploying them against Russian targets, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on October 17.

Conflict
Defense Industry

spotlight

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

Jun 24, 2019

Zelenskyy starts off on the right foot with the business community

By Andy Hunder

“I obviously mistook the dress code,” confessed Viacheslav Klymov standing tieless onstage where Ukraine’s president sat clad in his Sunday-best in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 20. The newly-elected president replied to the head of the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs not to fret and instantly removed his own tie in front of the audience of seven […]

Inclusive Growth
Political Reform

UkraineAlert

Jun 20, 2019

An incomplete end to the MH17 tragedy

By Michael Bociurkiw

Aside from the blowback from Russia and its refusal to cooperate, there are a couple of storm clouds on the horizon for the resolution of the MH17 tragedy.

Conflict
Disinformation

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