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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

Feb 9, 2023

Vladimir Putin must not be allowed to bankrupt the Ukrainian breadbasket

By
Andriy Vadaturskyy

Ukraine's strategically crucial agricultural sector has been hard hit by the full-scale Russian invasion of the country and desperately needs international support in order to survive in wartime conditions, writes Andriy Vadaturskyy.


Conflict


Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Feb 9, 2023

Countering Russian threats to global financial security

By
Benton Coblentz

Russia and its proxies have long exploited the rules-based global financial system for their personal gain and in service of Moscow’s geopolitical strategy, but the invasion of Ukraine has sparked calls for counter measures.


Conflict


Corruption


UkraineAlert

Feb 7, 2023

The Belarusian opposition can help defeat Putin in Ukraine

By
Stephen Nix, Mark Dietzen

Belarus has played a key supporting role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine but the democratic Belarusian opposition recognizes that defeating Putin can lead to the downfall of their own dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka.


Belarus


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Feb 6, 2023

Hero Ukrainian medic: “Russia will not stop until it is stopped”

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukrainian military medic Yulia Paievska has a simple message for anyone who still believes in the possibility of a compromise peace with Putin’s Russia. “They will not stop until they are stopped,” she says.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Feb 6, 2023

Ukrainians are united in rejection of any compromise with the Kremlin

By
Mariia Zolkina

As Russia's invasion of Ukraine approaches the one-year mark, an overwhelming majority of Ukrainians have faith in their country's victory and reject the idea of a compromise peace with the Kremlin, writes Mariia Zolkina.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Feb 2, 2023

Russian presence at Paris Olympics risks normalizing Ukraine invasion

By
Mark Temnycky

The International Olympic Committee's decision to allow Russian athletes to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics under a neutral flag has sparked outrage from critics who say it risks normalizing the genocidal invasion of Ukraine.


Conflict


France


UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2023

Ukrainian SMEs hold the key to the country’s economic revival

By
Seba Salim, Sarah Page

There is still no end in sight to the Russian invasion of Ukraine but the international community must not delay efforts to revive Ukraine's economy by supporting the country's vibrant SME sector.


Conflict


Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2023

Europe’s last empire: Putin’s Ukraine war exposes Russia’s imperial identity

By
Botakoz Kassymbekova

Vladimir Putin's genocidal invasion of Ukraine has exposed modern Russia's unapologetically imperial identity but could yet lead to the collapse of the Kremlin's broader imperial ambitions, writes Botakoz Kassymbekova.


Belarus


Central Asia


UkraineAlert

Jan 31, 2023

Russia’s cyberwar against Ukraine offers vital lessons for the West

By
Yurii Shchyhol

Ukraine’s experience in countering Russian cyber warfare can provide valuable lessons while offering a glimpse into a future where wars will be waged both by conventional means and increasingly in the borderless realm of cyberspace.


Conflict


Cybersecurity


UkraineAlert

Jan 28, 2023

Poland is leading Europe’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine

By
Diane Francis

Poland was the unsung hero of the recent landmark decision by Berlin and Washington to provide Ukraine with tanks as Polish leadership continues to shape the European response to Russia's genocidal invasion.


Conflict


Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion

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Content

UkraineAlert

Sep 10, 2018

How to Lose a Presidential Election Before It Even Starts: Ukraine’s Top Reform Party Turns on Itself

By Melinda Haring

Ukraine’s Maidan reformers had a real shot at reaching a tipping point and changing the country once and for all. In 2014, the reform-oriented Samopomich party, led by Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi, performed far better than expected in the parliamentary elections just a few months after street protests ejected pro-Russian President Victor Yanukovych. The Lviv-based […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 7, 2018

Why Does the Press Still Take Moscow at Its Word?

By Paul Niland

Reporting on the recent killing of Alexander Zakharchenko in Donetsk, Ukraine, has enraged many, and with good reason. Far too many reports from top outlets included the phrase or something similar, “Moscow denies sending regular troops and heavy weaponry to Ukraine, the rebels, or separatists.” Of course, Moscow regularly issues such denials. However, the time […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 7, 2018

Forget Javelins. What Ukraine Needs to Get Putin’s Attention

By Stephen Blank

US Ambassador Kurt Volker recently toldThe Guardian that the United States was prepared to offer Ukraine new weapons to defend itself. There is no doubt that Ukraine needs these weapons; in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, Moscow is waging a simultaneous military and economic war against Kyiv. It has blockaded the Sea […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 6, 2018

The Past Comes Back to Haunt Putin’s Man in Ukraine

By Mykola Vorobiov

A current controversy brewing in Ukraine illustrates just how relevant the Soviet past is to Ukraine’s present and future—and just how powerful the forces are that aim to reconnect Ukraine and its former hegemon, Russia.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 5, 2018

Straight Talk: Odesa Businessman Says Foreign Investors Aren’t Worried About What You Think

By Oksana Bedratenko

Andrey Stavnitser is a second generation businessman with a clean reputation in Ukraine. He’s also young and ambitious. The bushy-bearded thirty-six-year old turned his father’s TiS company into the largest private port in Ukraine and the largest of all Ukraine’s ports by dry cargo turnover. By investing aggressively in infrastructure, Stavnitser is proving that the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 5, 2018

Mass detention of journalists exposes emerging shifts in Belarus

By Maxim Eristavi

The crackdown is the product of a transitioning Belarus, in which the forces of modernization are clashing with efforts to slow down or even halt the changes.

Belarus

UkraineAlert

Aug 27, 2018

Why John McCain Scared Putin

By Stephen B. Nix

Many accolades will be written about Senator John McCain this week and deservedly so. He was a consistent champion for democracy and human rights throughout the world, and a man who always stood by his principles. In his role as chairman of the International Republican Institute (IRI), McCain was considered a champion, particularly in the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 20, 2018

Ukraine’s Political Season Is about to Begin. Here’s What You Need to Know.

By Taras Berezovets

The hot summer of 2018 has been unusually calm in Ukraine, where in the absence of other news, a scandal or a crisis catches the media spotlight. This is a stark contrast to 2009, when the Ukrainian presidential campaign was in full swing, which on February 7, 2010, ended in victory for Viktor Yanukovych. In […]

Ukraine

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