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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

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.

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Content

UkraineAlert

Jun 25, 2018

Hunger Strike Points to Missed PR Opportunity for Putin Regime

By Diane Francis

The World Cup in Russia is a Potemkin football extravaganza or a fancy façade designed to depict the country as advanced and civilized. In reality, it’s neither. Facts are that in recent international sporting events Russia’s athletes have been caught doping on a massive scale, or, alternatively, Putin has used festivities to camouflage the invasion […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 21, 2018

There’s More to Ukraine than Krieg, Krise, and Krim (War, Crisis, Crimea): How Germans See the Country

By Andreas Umland

Both Germany and Ukraine have special significance for the European project. Germany is Western Europe’s economically and demographically most significant country, while Ukraine is Eastern Europe’s largest and a geopolitical pivot point. The historical links between Ukrainians and Germans run deep. And yet little attention has been paid to the nature of the relationship between […]

Germany Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 20, 2018

Ten Ukrainian Technologies You May Already Be Using

By Ruslan Minich

What do Snapchat filters, liquid jet scalpels, Uber for yachts, and virtual reality gloves have in common? They are all decisively modern innovations that have emerged at the cutting edge of technological development—and they all demonstrate the ingenuity and economic dynamism of twenty-first century Ukraine.

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 20, 2018

Ukraine’s Got a Real Problem with Far-Right Violence (And No, RT Didn’t Write This Headline)

By Josh Cohen

It sounds like the stuff of Kremlin propaganda, but it’s not. Last week Hromadske Radio revealed that Ukraine’s Ministry of Youth and Sports is funding the neo-Nazi group C14 to promote “national patriotic education projects” in the country. On June 8, the Ministry announced that it will award C14 a little less than $17,000 for a […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 18, 2018

Five Ways the Kremlin Can Meddle in Ukraine’s Big Election

By Mykola Vorobiov

On June 15, Yulia Tymoshenko launched the start of Ukraine’s presidential election season with a two-and-half hour speech in Kyiv, Ukraine. With twenty-nine percent of voters telling pollsters they haven’t made their minds up for the race slated for March 31, the field is wide open. But it’s not too soon to start worrying about […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 15, 2018

They speak Russian in Crimea, but that doesn’t make it part of Russia

By Peter Dickinson

Away from the frontlines of the conflict, the myth of Ukraine’s pro-Kremlin Russian-speakers never really needed debunking.

Conflict Nationalism

UkraineAlert

Jun 14, 2018

Will Ukraine’s New Anticorruption Court Make a Difference?

By Anastasia Krasnosilska

On June 7, Ukraine’s parliament finally adopted a long-awaited law that paves the way for the establishment of an anticorruption court. Members of parliament had only one hour to evaluate the draft before voting, and the final text was released on June 13. Ukrainians have been waiting for four long years for justice. None of […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 13, 2018

Will Ukraine Be the Ultimate Loser of Putin’s World Cup?

By Peter Dickinson

Back in 2010 when world football governing body FIFA awarded Russia the right to host this year’s World Cup finals, few viewed Moscow as a threat. At the time, President Dmitry Medvedev seemed eager to portray himself as a Western-friendly reformer. In the diplomatic arena, the reset with the Obama White House had yet to […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 13, 2018

Why Ukrainians Are Betting On a Rock Star or Comedian to Turn Things Around

By Vera Zimmerman

No one knows how the Ukrainian presidential election next March will play out, but it’s fair to say that election season has already begun. Polls paint a worrying picture for candidates.  Despite perfect name recognition, the frontrunner Yulia Tymoshenko has only 9 to 13 percent support, according to recent polls (Rating, SOCIS, and Democratic Initiatives). […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 13, 2018

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The Saga of Hanna Solomatina

By Josh Cohen

Hanna Solomatina never set out to be a whistleblower. The former head of Ukraine’s National Agency for Corruption Prevention’s (NACP) Financial Control and Lifestyle Monitoring Department just wanted to use her background in finance and auditing to help the country fight endemic graft. The NACP manages Ukraine’s e-declaration system, which mandates that officials reveal their […]

Ukraine