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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 21, 2021

Now is the moment to transform Ukraine

By Kristina Kvien, Matti Maasikas, Melinda Simmons

Ukraine is on the verge of achieving a breakthrough towards judicial reform and transforming the rule of law situation in the country but President Zelenskyy must demonstrate the political will to overcome opposition.

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Oct 21, 2021

Ukraine strengthens independence of key anti-corruption agency

By Anastasia Radina

Ukrainian MPs adopted a landmark law on October 19 that will safeguard the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), the key agency in the country’s struggle against corruption.

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2021

Putin’s Ukraine war is world’s worst-kept secret but he remains in denial

By Peter Dickinson

Russian President Vladimir Putin's refusal to acknowledge his country's involvement in the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine makes progress towards peace virtually impossible.

Conflict Russia

UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2021

Russia is the world’s leading exporter of instability

By Iuliia Mendel

Vladimir Putin's Russia has emerged over the past two decades as the world's leading exporter of instability via tools ranging from digital disinformation and weaponized corruption to cyber attacks and military mercenaries.

Cybersecurity Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Oct 15, 2021

Ukraine flirts with disastrous return to gas price caps

By Anders Åslund

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party has proposed a potentially disastrous new law to “temporarily” prohibit private companies from selling gas at commercial market prices.

Energy Markets & Governance Geopolitics & Energy Security

UkraineAlert

Oct 14, 2021

Open Skies agreement will deepen Ukraine’s European integration

By Peter Dickinson

The Open Skies aviation agreement signed in Kyiv on October 12 will strengthen connectivity between Ukraine and the EU while significantly enhancing Ukraine's ongoing European integration.

Economy & Business European Union

UkraineAlert

Oct 14, 2021

Old problems threaten Ukraine’s new Bureau of Economic Security

By Victor Tregubov

Ukraine is currently in the process of reforming the country’s tax police. While there was much initial optimism earlier this year over the creation of a Bureau of Economic Security, familiar concerns are now creeping in as this new agency slowly takes shape.

Corruption Economy & Business

UkraineAlert

Oct 14, 2021

Ukraine hopes industrial parks can attract international investors

By Oleksii Chernyshov

President Zelenskyy recently signed off on a series of amendments to Ukrainian legislation on industrial parks as part of an initiative to establish a network of 25 flagship industrial parks across the country.

Economy & Business Trade and tariffs

UkraineAlert

Oct 12, 2021

Medvedev echoes Putin’s dangerous Ukraine obsession

By Peter Dickinson

Former Russian president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev has penned a vitriolic essay attacking the current Ukrainian leadership that underlines the scale of Moscow's dangerous obsession with the loss of Ukraine.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Oct 11, 2021

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy must prove he is serious about judicial reform

By Mykhailo Zhernakov, Nestor Barchuk

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's reputation as a reformer hinges on his ability to deliver on promises to transform Ukraine's discredited judiciary and achieve a breakthrough towards the rule of law in the country.

Corruption Political Reform

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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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UkraineAlert

Apr 2, 2019

What does comedian’s big win mean for Ukraine?

By Volodymyr Yermolenko

Comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy won the first round of Ukraine’s presidential election on March 31 and has a strong chance of winning the run-off on April 21. Zelenskiy will face incumbent Petro Poroshenko, who won just under 16 percent. Zelenskiy’s strong performance caught some off-guard, but the results of the election says at least seven important […]

Democratic Transitions Elections

UkraineAlert

Mar 29, 2019

Whoever wins Ukraine’s presidential race, Russia has already lost

By Peter Dickinson

It’s election season on Kremlin TV, but the presidential campaign receiving wall-to-wall coverage from Russia’s federal channels is taking place across the border in Ukraine. This is hardly surprising. Moscow’s obsession with all things Ukrainian is well-documented and reflects the centrality of information operations to Vladimir Putin’s five-year hybrid war against Ukraine. What’s interesting about […]

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Mar 29, 2019

Who gains from using the far-right in Ukraine’s elections?

By Taras Kuzio

The G-7 wrote to Minister of Interior Arsen Avakov about the threat to Ukraine’s presidential election from the far-right National Corps political party and National Militia civic organization, both led by Andriy Biletsky with whom he has had a long relationship. The G-7 warned, “They intimidate Ukrainian citizens, try to usurp the role of the […]

Elections Extremism

UkraineAlert

Mar 28, 2019

Time to play hardball on reforming Ukraine’s security service

By Oleksandra Ustinova and Steven Pifer

In June 2018, Ukraine’s parliament adopted the Law on National Security, with the help of the United States and other international partners, including NATO and the European Union. Among other things, the law set the frame for the functions of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and opened the door for comprehensive reform of that […]

Conflict Corruption

UkraineAlert

Mar 28, 2019

The Kremlin’s top eight lies about Ukraine’s presidential race

By Tetyana Matychak

On March 31, Ukrainians go to the polls to elect their sixth president. An openly pro-Russian candidate is unlikely to win. However, Moscow is watching closely and cares about the outcome. What is it saying about the election? We analyzed the most widespread Kremlin manipulations about Ukraine’s presidential election on Russian state-controlled media in March. […]

Civil Society Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Mar 25, 2019

What to expect from Ukraine’s completely unpredictable presidential election

By Brian Mefford

On March 31, Ukrainians will select their sixth president. The election is seen a referendum on the incumbent Poroshenko administration and his record since the watershed Euromaidan Revolution that decisively moved Ukraine onto a pro-Western path. Polls put political newcomer Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the lead, with Poroshenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko fighting for […]

Elections Political Reform

UkraineAlert

Mar 25, 2019

Some things never change

By Andreas Umland

Ukraine’s presidential election is less than a week away, and no candidate will win outright with fifty percent. Comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy leads in the polls and will certainly be in the run-off election on April 21. The big question is whether he will face incumbent President Petro Poroshenko or former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Poroshenko […]

Elections Eurozone

UkraineAlert

Mar 25, 2019

The real Russian candidate in Ukraine’s presidential race

By Anders Åslund

On March 22, nine days before the Ukrainian presidential election, Ukraine’s pro-Russian presidential candidate Yuriy Boyko went to Moscow to meet Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev without prior announcement. It’s strange for a presidential candidate to visit a leader of a country with which it is at war, but that was only the beginning of […]

Corruption Elections

UkraineAlert

Mar 21, 2019

Real advice, not platitudes, keeps Kyiv on reform path

By Steven Pifer and William B. Taylor

We read with interest Adrian Karatnycky’s piece “Viceroys in Kyiv.”  We respect Mr. Karatnycky but have a different perspective. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. We each served as the American ambassador to Ukraine and, in that capacity as well as in other positions in the US government, urged our Ukrainian counterparts to move on reform—both in […]

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Mar 21, 2019

Viceroys in Kyiv?

By Adrian Karatnycky

How should Western diplomats advance democracy and the rule of law? In closed societies, as the late US diplomat Mark Palmer argued, US ambassadors should be clear voices for human rights and due process. They should monitor attacks on human rights, attend trials of dissidents, and speak out when they see major violations of freedom. […]

Corruption International Financial Institutions