Stay Updated

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

Nov 6, 2021

Ukraine’s anti-oligarch law could make President Zelenskyy too powerful

By
David Clark

President Zelenskyy has trumpeted the country's new anti-oligarch law as a meaningful step towards curbing the power of Ukraine's oligarch class, but critics fear it may actually make Zelenskyy himself too powerful.


Corruption


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Nov 6, 2021

Disarming Putin’s energy weapon: Ukraine must connect to EU grid

By
Anders Åslund

With Vladimir Putin seeking to restrict energy supplies to Ukraine, it is increasingly clear that Kyiv must connect to the European electricity grid in order to reduce its vulnerability to Kremlin blackmail tactics.


Conflict


Energy & Environment


UkraineAlert

Nov 4, 2021

Ukraine faces energy crisis as Putin weaponizes gas and coal supplies

By
Aura Sabadus

As the winter season draws closer, Ukraine faces a looming energy crisis on multiple fronts which could lead to domestic political instability and deepen the country’s dependence on Vladimir Putin's Russia.


Conflict


Energy & Environment


UkraineAlert

Nov 4, 2021

Ukraine MPs fight back against fake Covid vaccination certificates

By
Oleksandra Ustinova

As Ukraine grapples with a mounting Covid-19 death toll and low vaccination rates, the country's MPs aim to adopt tougher regulations targeting the thriving Ukrainian black market for fake vaccination certificates.


Coronavirus


Corruption


UkraineAlert

Nov 2, 2021

Putin’s Ukraine War: Russian MP recalls efforts to push civil war myth

By
Peter Dickinson

Russian MP Alexander Borodai's frank recent comments about Russia's responsibility for the war in Ukraine underline the current sense of impunity in Moscow and expose the absurdity of Russia's ongoing denials.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Nov 2, 2021

Ukraine’s dangerous Winter Olympic obsession

By
Nicholas Bell, Lukas Straumann

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has declared his intention to bring the Winter Olympics to the country, but environmentalists fear the initiative will cause irreparable damage to some of the most valuable mountain ecosystems in Europe.


Climate Change & Climate Action


Energy & Environment


UkraineAlert

Nov 2, 2021

Two years of Lifeline Ukraine

By
Paul Niland

Since it was launched in October 2019, Lifeline Ukraine has evolved from its original focus on support for Ukrainian combat veterans into a fully-fledged national suicide prevention hotline.


Conflict


Human Rights


UkraineAlert

Oct 28, 2021

Strong Ukraine-Turkey partnership holds the key to Black Sea security

By
Dmytro Kuleba

The strengthening strategic partnership between Ukraine and Turkey is vital for Black Sea security and offers a model for greater NATO engagement in the region, writes Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba.


Conflict


Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Oct 28, 2021

Gas price caps would be a disaster for the Ukrainian economy

By
Willem Buiter

Ukraine's proposed price cap on private company natural gas sales is symptomatic of what is wrong with the country’s broader approach to the market economy and must be avoided at all costs, writes Willem Buiter.


Energy & Environment


Energy Markets & Governance


UkraineAlert

Oct 27, 2021

Europe must defend itself against Vladimir Putin’s energy weapon

By
Diane Francis

Moscow’s role in Europe’s escalating gas crisis should be a wake-up call for European policymakers who prefer to downplay the threat posed by weaponized Russian energy supplies and Vladimir Putin’s revisionist regime.


Conflict


Disinformation

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.

The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values, and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia, and Central Asia in the East.

Follow us on social media
and support our work

Content

UkraineAlert

Oct 22, 2018

Good News: Ukraine Finally Gets New IMF Agreement

By Anders Åslund

On October 19, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that it had finally reached a staff-level agreement with Ukraine on renewed lending. Ukraine hasn’t received any IMF funds since April 2017. Experts had warned that without an IMF tranche, Ukraine’s economy might face a serious financial crisis this fall.

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 18, 2018

Church Splits, and Putin Loses Big

By Stephen Blank

Ukraine has just won a tremendous victory by obtaining the right of autocephaly, or the right to constitute the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as fully independent and free of any subservience to Moscow. This victory represents a shattering blow to Vladimir Putin’s pretenses of a Russian world (Russkii Mir) and the entire arcana imperii (Imperial relics) […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 17, 2018

The New Cold War Could Learn a Lot from the Old One

By John E. Herbst

Territories between great powers—borderlands—have always been areas of strife. So it is with the countries caught between Russia and the West, those that were once part of the Soviet Union or firmly within its sphere of influence. Much of Europe has consolidated and, with the United States, established a lasting liberal democratic order, but Russia […]

Moldova The Caucasus

UkraineAlert

Oct 17, 2018

How Ukraine Can Avoid Disaster in 2019

By Taras Kuzio

Ukraine’s 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections are the most important since the country became independent nearly three decades ago. If next year’s elections follow those held in 2014 when five pro-reform political forces won a constitutional majority, Ukraine’s European integration and withdrawal from the Russian world will be assured by the next election cycle in […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 16, 2018

Ukraine, Anti-Semitism, Racism, and the Far Right​

By Adrian Karatnycky

October 14 saw the latest in a string of annual mass marches by the far right in Ukraine. As many as 10,000 people participated, mainly young men, chanting fiercely. A nighttime torchlight parade with signs proclaiming “We’ll return Ukraine to Ukrainians,” contained echoes of Nazi-style symbolism. Lax law enforcement and indifference by the security services to the operations of the far right is being noticed by extremists from abroad who […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 15, 2018

What Really Happened in Constantinople Last Week

By Cyril Hovorun

Last week Ukraine’s Orthodox Church got confirmation that it will likely receive the independence from Moscow that it has long sought. The issue is complex, and the terminology foreign to most readers. The issue of the Ukrainian church is similar to an iceberg. What appears above the surface is political, but the largest part underneath […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 14, 2018

Kyiv Patriarchate Vs. Moscow Patriarchate: David Triumphs Over Goliath

By Margo Gontar

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church will become independent. It’s hard to overestimate the significance of this change; Moscow will no longer have power over it. And that’s exactly what Russia cannot tolerate.

Civil Society Russia

UkraineAlert

Oct 11, 2018

Three more reasons why I’m optimistic about Ukraine

By Melinda Haring

There are plenty of principled, young and not-so-young people, in the pipeline.

Civil Society Corruption

UkraineAlert

Oct 9, 2018

Why Can’t Ukraine Kill Corruption?

By Mykola Vorobiov

Ukraine still struggles to overcome its core disease of corruption. Since the 2014 Euromaidan, a number of anticorruption institutions have been created in close cooperation with Western partners, including the United States. Among them are the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP), the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), and the Anti-Corruption […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 9, 2018

Vakarchuk Says Ukraine Needs New Leaders, But Will He Be One?

By Melinda Haring

For months now, political junkies and ordinary Ukrainians have debated whether their beloved rock star Slava Vakarchuk will run for president in 2019. He’s got massive name recognition throughout the country. Even more, he’s one of the only reform-minded candidates who might be able to unify Ukraine’s fractious opposition. Last week I caught up with […]

Ukraine