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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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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

May 14, 2018

Absurd Price Hikes and Epic Hospitality: Kyiv’s Champions League Showcases Best and Worst of Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Kyiv’s preparations to host the 2018 Champions League Final on May 26 have been something of a rollercoaster ride that has highlighted the very best and worst of Ukraine. The international media buildup to the big match began with a flurry of negative stories criticizing Ukrainian hoteliers and apartment rental services for inflating prices to […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 9, 2018

No Longer a Soldier: Ukraine’s Returned Volunteers Are Embracing Second and Third Careers

By Ruslan Minich

“Finding myself in Kyiv now, I smell blood and diesel from time to time. These triggers will always be there,” says Alina Viatkina, a paramedic for the volunteer Hospitallers Medical Battalion. “But you can’t lose control for three days every time. You are learning how to calm yourself: OK, this is the smell of blood. […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 9, 2018

Ukraine’s Least Celebrated Oligarch-Free Institution That You Haven’t Heard Of

By Oksana Bedratenko

As Ukraine’s economy begins to grow modestly, its Central Bank is striving to become an anchor of stability. The country needs to preserve the fragile macroeconomic stability it has achieved and use the upswing in the global economy to conduct reforms and stimulate economic growth. The task, however, still meets formidable obstacles; a number of […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 9, 2018

Unreality TV: Why the Kremlin’s Lies Stick

By Diane Francis

In 2014, Russian-backed rebels used a Moscow-supplied missile to shoot down Malaysia Airlines flight 17 over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. Russian state TV made wild claims such as the passengers were already dead, a Ukrainian fighter jet shot down the plane, and the CIA was behind the plot. Since 2016, Russian […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 8, 2018

Here’s How Ukraine Should Remember Victory Day

By Iuliia Mendel

Ukraine’s post-Maidan leadership has focused on building patriotism to unite the nation as it suffered from turbulence and war. The patriotism that emerged from the Euromaidan promoted a nationalistic symbolism that rejected and replaced the prevailing Russian and Soviet identities. But instead of uniting the country, the current effort has expanded the divide between Ukrainians […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 4, 2018

Why the Bucharest Summit Still Matters Ten Years On

By Walter Zaryckyj

A decade ago, I received a four word message from a close German acquaintance who had accompanied Chancellor Angela Merkel to the NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania, that was tasked to decide whether to provide Georgia and Ukraine with a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP). It read: “Yes, but not now!” Having just seen a […]

Moldova Russia

UkraineAlert

May 3, 2018

The Window for Reform May Be Closing in Ukraine, But It’s Still Wide Open in Kyiv

By Diane Francis

Countries like Ukraine, afflicted with systemic corruption, need new leaders at the top, but also those willing to engage in erecting bulwarks against graft at the local level. And while the president and parliament disappoint and foot drag on implementing major revolutionary reforms, real change at the Kyiv City Council, the biggest local government in […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 3, 2018

Ukrainians Are Totally Sick of Their Leaders. Here’s One Radical Way to Fix the Problem

By Melinda Haring

One could be forgiven for mistaking the campus of the Ukrainian Leadership Academy in Kyiv for a small liberal arts college in the United States. With its red-brick dormitory and modern glass facade, light-filled cafeteria that doubles as a disco, easy camaraderie, and never-ending intellectual discussions, it transported me back to my undergraduate days in […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 2, 2018

Russia Isn’t Just Interfering in Elections Around the World. It’s Doing Something Far Worse

By Maxim Eristavi

Russian President Vladimir Putin will stop at nothing in his hunt for dissidents abroad. In his determination, he has found some powerful allies within Western democracies—a practice that should alarm those who prize justice and the rule of law. In recent weeks, I’ve been collecting stories of Russian dissidents who say they fell victim to […]

Moldova Russia

UkraineAlert

May 2, 2018

The Forgotten Faces of Those Left Behind in the Donbas

By Ruslan Minich

“In the area of Avdiivka, you can hear 120 millimeter mortar shelling, while just 500 or 600 meters away, there is a bus stop with children waiting for a school bus,” remembers Vasyl Antoniak, a volunteer soldier who fought in the Donbas in 2014-15. For many Ukrainian soldiers, the line between war and normal life […]

Russia Ukraine