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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

Sep 15, 2021

Ukraine’s top soccer stars join the country’s Ukrainian language renaissance

By
David Kirichenko

Ukraine’s national football team captain Andriy Yarmolenko recently conducted a press conference in Ukrainian, marking the latest small step forward in what is a wider renaissance of the Ukrainian language.

Resilience & Society
Ukraine


BelarusAlert

Sep 14, 2021

Belarus dictator poses growing threat to Ukraine

By
Lisa Yasko

Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s growing dependence on the Kremlin is allowing Vladimir Putin to expand his military presence in Belarus and creating a new front in Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine.

Belarus
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Sep 14, 2021

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy vows to fight for judicial reform

By
Halyna Chyzhyk

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called an extraordinary meeting of politicians, diplomats, and members of the judiciary in order to prevent his flagship judicial reform drive from being sabotaged and derailed.

Corruption
Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Sep 9, 2021

Odesa’s unique place in Ukraine’s cultural evolution

By
Andrew D’Anieri

Ukrainian Black Sea port city Odesa occupies a unique place in the country’s cultural evolution thanks to its unrivaled international pedigree and the limitless creative ambitions of the local cultural community.

Civil Society
Resilience & Society


UkraineAlert

Sep 9, 2021

Why Ukraine must join NATO

By
Adrian Hoefer

Given the Kremlin’s hostile revisionism, Ukraine’s membership in NATO is in the long-term interest of the US and its allies. As Moscow expands its hybrid war on the West, Ukraine is an asset.

Eastern Europe
International Organizations


UkraineAlert

Sep 9, 2021

Navigating the geopolitical battlefield of Ukrainian history

By
Serhii Plokhy

Prominent Ukrainian historian Serhii Plokhy’s latest essay collection seeks to demonstrate how the country’s evolving sense of national history is central to Ukraine’s current war with Russia and its relations with the West.

Resilience & Society
Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Sep 7, 2021

Could Vladimir Putin repeat his Crimean conquest in southwestern Ukraine?

By
Michael Druckman

The Bessarabia region in southwestern Ukraine shares many of the same characteristics that helped facilitate the 2014 Kremlin takeover of Crimea and should be a national security priority for the Ukrainian authorities.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Sep 7, 2021

Ukraine’s digital revolution is gaining momentum

By
Mykhailo Fedorov

September marks the second anniversary of Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation. The Ministry can report significant progress in turning President Zelenskyy’s dreams of a digital revolution into reality.

Digital Policy
Internet


UkraineAlert

Sep 5, 2021

US anti-corruption crusade should focus on Europe’s east

By
Janusz Bugajski

By making the fight against corruption a key US foreign policy priority, President Biden can counter the Kremlin’s efforts to gain influence throughout Central and Eastern Europe via the exploitation of corruption.

Central Europe
Corruption


UkraineAlert

Sep 2, 2021

Biden and Zelenskyy get US-Ukraine ties back on track

By
Peter Dickinson

US President Joe Biden hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on September 1 for a meeting that sought to reaffirm America’s unwavering commitment to Ukrainian sovereignty.

Democratic Transitions
Politics & Diplomacy

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Content

UkraineAlert

Jan 24, 2019

Are Things Really Changing at Ukroboronprom?

By Melinda Haring

Pavlo Bukin has been on the job for nearly a year, and he’s in good spirits. It’s not the most enviable position: he’s the general director of Ukroboronprom, the state-owned defense company, and has been charged with cleaning up the company and making its business practices market friendly. Ukroboronprom (UOP) has serious reputational issues. Ukraine’s […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 22, 2019

Who wanted Boris Nemtsov dead? New book offers new look at evidence

By Anders Åslund

Boris Nemtsov was jollier and more outgoing than most. Unlike most of Russia’s reformers, he abstained from wealth, choosing to live modestly as an opposition politician. He could work with anyone. On February 27, 2015, he was murdered just off the Kremlin.

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 21, 2019

Ukraine emerges from isolation

By James Brooke

Transportation links provide advance warnings as to where a society is going physically and mentally. Until five years ago, all of Ukraine’s roads led to Moscow. Now they go west. On land, more Ukrainians traveled by train to Europe than to Russia last year for the first time since Czarist railroads were built in the […]

Macroeconomics
Russia

UkraineAlert

Jan 17, 2019

Trump Doesn’t Have to Quit NATO to Undermine It, Expert Warns

By Melinda Haring

On January 14, the New York Times confirmed that President Donald Trump talked about pulling out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization more than once in 2018. But can the president quit NATO unilaterally?

NATO
Russia

UkraineAlert

Jan 16, 2019

Putin’s dream scenario for Ukraine

By Alexander J. Motyl

Ironically, by failing to acknowledge that everything has in fact changed, Ukrainians could wind up with the worst of all possible worlds—a reversal to the status quo ante and a return to Russia’s embrace.

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 16, 2019

Ukraine’s Euromaidan Democrats Have No Shot at the Presidency, but What About Parliament?

By Andreas Umland

Ukraine’s anti-oligarchic forces have finally started the process of forming a broad pro-reform coalition in advance of the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections. On January 11, a congress of various reformist groups announced its support for the presidential candidacy of former Minister of Defense Anatoliy Hrytsenko. While the meeting was largely an event of Hrytsenko’s […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 16, 2019

How Will Ukraine’s Next President View the World? A Look at the Top 5 Candidates

By Mykola Vorobiov

Ukraine’s presidential election season is in full-swing. After the holiday recess, the campaign is getting even more dynamic with about forty candidates who have already declared. While the ratings fluctuate almost daily, the top five remain steady, so it’s time to dig in and start evaluating their various views. Below we’ve analyzed their foreign policy […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 16, 2019

The Best Ukraine Can Hope for with Russia in 2019

By Anders Åslund

Donald Trump has been president of the United States for two years, but it remains uncertain whether he has a Ukraine policy. His administration does, but Trump is famously superficial in his knowledge. Trump has repeatedly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, hardly said anything negative about Russia, and insisted on the need to cut sanctions […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 11, 2019

Two More Ways to Make Ukraine Independent

By Olga Bielkova

Ukraine’s Orthodox Church just broke with Moscow, and it’s time for us to move farther away from Russia in the energy sector as well. Even though it is an election year, Kyiv must deliver on the country’s two strategic priorities: increasing gas production in Ukraine and jointly operating Ukraine’s transmission system. After all, energy independence […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 10, 2019

Why a Comedian’s Bid for Ukraine’s Presidency Is No Laughing Matter

By Andreas Umland

Most experts have reacted negatively to the announcement that Ukrainian comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy will stand in the presidential election in spring 2019. Indeed, Zelenskiy’s candidacy is problematic for at least three reasons. Still, for all the skepticism, Zelenskiy’s participation in the race may also have a bright side.

Ukraine