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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

Aug 16, 2018

How One Family Is Reviving Ukraine’s Pre-Soviet Tradition of Philanthropy

By Lauren Van Metre

Since the Euromaidan, we have seen extraordinary acts of volunteerism by Ukrainians. In the initial days of Russia’s invasion, citizen volunteers fought on the Donbas front to shore up the Ukrainian Army, which was on the verge of collapse. These citizen soldiers experienced high casualty rates. Volunteers organized supplies for the war and served as […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 15, 2018

How Corruption Actually Works in Ukraine

By Melinda Haring

It’s standard fare in any article about Ukraine to mention the country’s enormous, overwhelming, and everlasting corruption problem. It’s also incredibly boring, because hardly anyone has examples or knows how it actually works. In April, I sat down over coffee and sweets in Kyiv with investigative journalist Oleksa Shalayskiy, editor-in-chief of Nashi Groshi (Our Money), who […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 15, 2018

The Last Missing Piece to Make Ukraine Truly Independent

By Kateryna Kruk

One of the biggest differences between Eastern and Western Europe is the role of the church. On paper, they are separate, but in Eastern Europe, tradition trumps the law and the influence of the church is immense. In Ukraine, the church is the most trusted institution, which is a good thing, but the fact that […]

Europe & Eurasia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 15, 2018

Good News: IMF to Return to Kyiv in September

By Timothy Ash

Last week Ukraine’s finances didn’t look so promising and a fall fiscal crisis was entirely possible. Many worried that Ukraine wouldn’t satisfy the International Monetary Fund’s three main demands in time to receive a $1.9 billion tranche before annual budget debates begin. The IMF had been demanding an Anticorruption Court, market prices on gas for […]

Europe & Eurasia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 14, 2018

Ukraine Passes Anticorruption Court Law. What’s Next?

By Maksym Kostetskyi

Ukraine finally got an Anticorruption Court on June 26. That day, President Petro Poroshenko signed the law which establishes the court. Importantly, the shortcomings of the original law the Rada had passed in June were later corrected. All appeals cases under the jurisdiction of the Anticorruption Court will be reviewed only in the Anticorruption Court, […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 14, 2018

Why Peace in Ukraine Cannot Wait

By Andreas Umland

The war in eastern Ukraine grinds on, forgotten by many. There’s no obvious way out. The ceasefire agreements have been continuously broken, high-level dialogue between Russia and the United States stopped months ago, and the unarmed OSCE monitors in conflict zone are continuously harassed. Some analysts suspect that Moscow is waiting until March when Ukraine […]

Europe & Eurasia Russia

UkraineAlert

Aug 13, 2018

How Rejection and Time Abroad Changed One Kyiv Activist’s Life

By Mary Trichka

The Atlantic Council has been profiling some of Ukraine’s toughest but lesser-known female activists this summer. When I spoke with Iryna Shyba, a leader with the DEJURE Foundation in Kyiv, Ukraine, she almost rejected the premise of the piece. “I don’t feel like I am doing more than any other civil society activist,” Shyba said. […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 10, 2018

The Forgotten Story Behind Crimea’s Only Displaced University

By Madeline Roache

“We could hear explosions during classes and the sound of helicopters flying overhead. But no one understood what was happening or how long it would last,” recalls Anna Gladchenko, a 23-year-old student at the Donetsk National Medical University in Ukraine. When war broke out in eastern Ukraine in 2014, 150,000 college students and 10,000 faculty […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 9, 2018

Q&A: Will Ukraine Face a Serious Financial Crisis If It Doesn’t Get IMF Money Before November?

By Melinda Haring

Central bankers and economists are sounding the alarm in Kyiv, Ukraine. The Finance Ministry’s account balance has fallen to its lowest level in four years. The hryvnia is falling fast now, and fell nearly 4 percent over the last three weeks. Eurobond sales and foreign aid could remedy the cash-flow problem, but the International Monetary […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 8, 2018

In Ukraine, Attacks on Civil Society Spread to the Regions

By Yevhen Bystrytsky

Just about everyone credits Ukraine’s persistent activists for almost every reform win since 2014. But four years after the Maidan, the public demand to put corrupt officials behind bars remains unanswered. Does that mean that civil society and the energy of the Maidan have reached their limits? It means just the opposite, actually. Resistance to […]

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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Content

UkraineAlert

Oct 4, 2019

Expert Q&A: Will the Steinmeier Formula bring peace to Ukraine?

By Mattia Nelles

What does the Steinmeier Formula mean for Ukraine and could this be the first step in a peaceful settlement of the Donbas war?

Conflict Crisis Management

UkraineAlert

Oct 3, 2019

Early warning signs in Ukraine

By Bohdan Nahaylo

The recent resignation of Oleksandr Danyliuk is a blow to all those who have expected better from the new Ukrainian president and his team.

Democratic Transitions Political Reform

UkraineAlert

Oct 3, 2019

Rebuilding Ukraine one house at a time

By Yurko Didula

Five years after Kramatorsk, our volunteer initiative has become the largest volunteer movement in Ukraine with a network of more than 2,500 volunteers. Together, we have restored housing for 220 families and helped 17 cities create their own youth centers.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Oct 2, 2019

Will Ukraine make a deal with Kolomoisky? Three things to watch

By Oksana Bedratenko

There are only three things to watch to determine whether rumors about a possible deal with Kolomoisky are true: changes in NBU leadership, developments in PrivatBank-related cases in Ukrainian courts, and how the cases in international courts play out.

Financial Regulation International Financial Institutions

UkraineAlert

Oct 1, 2019

Hard questions for Mr. Zelenskyy

By Bohdan Nahaylo

Is Ukraine about to be sold out and further weakened by internal splits?

Elections Human Rights

UkraineAlert

Oct 1, 2019

Leave Ukraine out of the Ukraine scandal

By Oleksii Honcharenko

I have one request for American political elites: stop making Ukraine a political football in the internal affairs of the United States. Nothing less than our security and Europe’s security depends on it.

Crisis Management Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Oct 1, 2019

Ukraine is having a very bad month

By Melinda Haring

Only three weeks ago, diplomats, the international finance community, and Ukraine boosters were so upbeat.

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Sep 27, 2019

Why Zelenskyy needs a new chief of staff now

By Melinda Haring

A new investigation may shed light on the views of Zelenskyy's chief of staff Andriy Bohdan toward Russia and the West.

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Sep 26, 2019

Expert Q&A: How’s the US-Ukraine relationship after New York?

By Melinda Haring

How’s the US-Ukraine relationship after New York? What should Zelenskyy do next? How could Russian President Vladimir Putin exploit this?

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Sep 26, 2019

Will Zelenskyy make the same fatal mistake as Poroshenko?

By Kateryna Butko

Judicial reform is one of the most anticipated promises made by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his unorthodox campaign.

Civil Society Political Reform