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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 8, 2022

Ukraine prepares to unplug from Russian electricity amid invasion fears

By
Aura Sabadus

Amid mounting fears of a full-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine remains determined to proceed with a planned trial disconnection from the Russian electricity grid in order to progress towards European energy integration.


Conflict


Energy Markets & Governance


UkraineAlert

Feb 7, 2022

Still not too late for Germany to honor its commitment to Ukraine

By
Eugene Czolij

Germany says a sense of "historical responsibility" over Nazi crimes prevents Berlin from adopting a firmer stand against Russia. Many in Ukraine ask why this logic does not also apply to the millions of Ukrainian WWII victims.


Conflict


Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion


UkraineAlert

Feb 7, 2022

US delegation: America stands with Ukraine against Russian threat

By
Eurasia Center

The Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center organized a delegation to visit Kyiv on January 30-February 1 planned around a major public event organized in concert with Yalta European Strategy and the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, a partner of the Eurasia Center.


Conflict


European Union


UkraineAlert

Feb 4, 2022

Russia demands security guarantees but what Putin really wants is Ukraine

By
Iulian Romanyshyn

Russian President Vladimir Putin claims to seek security guarantees and an end to NATO expansion but the crisis he has recently engineered is really all about reasserting Kremlin control over Ukraine, says Iulian Romanyshyn.


Conflict


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Feb 3, 2022

Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine playbook echoes the traditional tactics of Russian imperialism

By
Łukasz Adamski

Putin's hybrid war against Ukraine has been portrayed as innovative but Moscow’s approach also echoes more traditional tactics from the golden age of Russian imperialism and the era of Soviet expansionism.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Feb 2, 2022

The new Ukraine needs a new census

By
Andrew D’Anieri

Ukraine has not conducted a national census in more than two decades and must address this issue in order to provide up-to-date information reflecting the dramatic changes taking place within Ukrainian society.


Conflict


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2022

US delegation tells Ukrainians: Your fight is our fight

By
Peter Dickinson

A high-level American delegation arrived in Kyiv on January 30 for a visit designed to demonstrate US solidarity and support for Ukraine as the country faces up to the threat of a potential full-scale Russian invasion.


Conflict


Politics & Diplomacy


UkraineAlert

Jan 30, 2022

Ukraine Crisis: Western sanctions must target Putin’s propagandists

By
Yevhen Fedchenko

As Putin threatens a new invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s disinformation apparatus is playing a central role in the march to war. The international community must recognize this role and react accordingly.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jan 30, 2022

Ukraine Crisis: Will Putin deploy his energy weapons against Europe?

By
Aura Sabadus

In recent months, Russia has frequently been accused of using energy supplies as a geopolitical weapon. With international tensions now rising, such tactics may soon become more prominent.


Conflict


European Union


UkraineAlert

Jan 28, 2022

Ukrainian neutrality would not appease Putin or prevent further Russian aggression

By
Stephen Blank

Anyone who believes Ukrainian neutrality would appease Vladimir Putin should bear in mind the fact that Ukraine was officially neutral when Russia first invaded the country back in 2014.


Conflict


NATO

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Content

UkraineAlert

Aug 15, 2018

Good News: IMF to Return to Kyiv in September

By Timothy Ash

Last week Ukraine’s finances didn’t look so promising and a fall fiscal crisis was entirely possible. Many worried that Ukraine wouldn’t satisfy the International Monetary Fund’s three main demands in time to receive a $1.9 billion tranche before annual budget debates begin. The IMF had been demanding an Anticorruption Court, market prices on gas for […]

Europe & Eurasia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 14, 2018

Ukraine Passes Anticorruption Court Law. What’s Next?

By Maksym Kostetskyi

Ukraine finally got an Anticorruption Court on June 26. That day, President Petro Poroshenko signed the law which establishes the court. Importantly, the shortcomings of the original law the Rada had passed in June were later corrected. All appeals cases under the jurisdiction of the Anticorruption Court will be reviewed only in the Anticorruption Court, […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 14, 2018

Why Peace in Ukraine Cannot Wait

By Andreas Umland

The war in eastern Ukraine grinds on, forgotten by many. There’s no obvious way out. The ceasefire agreements have been continuously broken, high-level dialogue between Russia and the United States stopped months ago, and the unarmed OSCE monitors in conflict zone are continuously harassed. Some analysts suspect that Moscow is waiting until March when Ukraine […]

Europe & Eurasia Russia

UkraineAlert

Aug 13, 2018

How Rejection and Time Abroad Changed One Kyiv Activist’s Life

By Mary Trichka

The Atlantic Council has been profiling some of Ukraine’s toughest but lesser-known female activists this summer. When I spoke with Iryna Shyba, a leader with the DEJURE Foundation in Kyiv, Ukraine, she almost rejected the premise of the piece. “I don’t feel like I am doing more than any other civil society activist,” Shyba said. […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 10, 2018

The Forgotten Story Behind Crimea’s Only Displaced University

By Madeline Roache

“We could hear explosions during classes and the sound of helicopters flying overhead. But no one understood what was happening or how long it would last,” recalls Anna Gladchenko, a 23-year-old student at the Donetsk National Medical University in Ukraine. When war broke out in eastern Ukraine in 2014, 150,000 college students and 10,000 faculty […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 9, 2018

Q&A: Will Ukraine Face a Serious Financial Crisis If It Doesn’t Get IMF Money Before November?

By Melinda Haring

Central bankers and economists are sounding the alarm in Kyiv, Ukraine. The Finance Ministry’s account balance has fallen to its lowest level in four years. The hryvnia is falling fast now, and fell nearly 4 percent over the last three weeks. Eurobond sales and foreign aid could remedy the cash-flow problem, but the International Monetary […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 8, 2018

In Ukraine, Attacks on Civil Society Spread to the Regions

By Yevhen Bystrytsky

Just about everyone credits Ukraine’s persistent activists for almost every reform win since 2014. But four years after the Maidan, the public demand to put corrupt officials behind bars remains unanswered. Does that mean that civil society and the energy of the Maidan have reached their limits? It means just the opposite, actually. Resistance to […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 7, 2018

Why Ukraine Is Reappearing on US Investors’ Radar Screens

By Andy Hunder

When I was an eight-year-old boy growing up in London in the late 1970s, my schoolteacher asked our class to show on the map where in Britain our parents were born. When it was my turn, I walked to the other side of the blackboard where the world map hung and proudly exclaimed that my […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 7, 2018

Which New US Sanctions on Russia Are Likely?

By Anders Åslund

The US Congress has prepared numerous bills proposing new sanctions on Russia. Congress reacted sharply against President Donald Trump’s desire to ease existing sanctions. On July 28, 2017, the Senate voted 98-2 for the Combating America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which Trump quietly signed into law. CAATSA legislated already adopted sanctions on Russia, so […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

Aug 6, 2018

Why Does Senator Rand Paul Trust the Deepest State of All?

By Bohdan Klid

Three weeks ago, Republican Senator Rand Paul leapt to the defense of US President Donald Trump following fierce criticism over his comments at the July 16 press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. Known for his libertarian views, Paul urged the president to revoke the security clearances of former CIA director John Brennan […]

Russia Ukraine