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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 20, 2018

Ukraine’s Had Revolutions, But Where Is the Real Evolution?

By
Ruslan Minich

In the last three decades, Ukraine has experienced three dramatic changes that have often been referred to as revolutions. But were they genuinely revolutionary?


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Feb 20, 2018

Putin as Far as the Eye Can See, And Then What?

By
Leonid Gozman

The Russian presidential election will take place on March 18. The outcome of the election is obvious: Vladimir Putin will keep his seat. However, although the name of the president won’t change, the country will. March 18 won’t just mark the end of the election campaign. It will also launch Putin’s last term, which will […]


Russia


UkraineAlert

Feb 19, 2018

Four Years after the Maidan, How Is the Investigation Going?

By
Tetyana Ogarkova

On February 18, 2014, the most tragic part of the Revolution of Dignity started; more than one hundred people were killed, several dozens went missing, and over a thousand were wounded in Kyiv on February 18-20. Yevhenia Zakrevska, the leading lawyer of the so-called Heavenly Hundred families who lost loved ones on the Maidan during […]


Russia


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Feb 15, 2018

We’re All In! Ukraine Moving Forward on Women’s Participation

By
Lauren Van Metre

Women’s rights have made major strides in Ukraine since 2014. In particular, elevating the coordination of the government’s gender equality policies to the office of the Vice Prime Minister for EU and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, has led to real breakthroughs.


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Feb 14, 2018

Forget East-West and Language Divide. Politicians May Exploit New Wedge Issues in Ukraine’s Elections

By
Ruslan Minich

Ukraine has decisively moved toward the West. Previously pulled between East and West, Ukrainians are now more united on key issues that had previously rankled the country for decades. More Ukrainians want educational instruction in Ukrainian, greater numbers prefer EU and NATO membership, and support for democracy far outstrips support for a strongman. At the […]


Russia


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Feb 14, 2018

How to Waste Western Military Assistance

By
Olena Prokopenko

In late 2017, Ukraine failed to receive assistance that was expected from two of its largest donors, the IMF and the EU. The anticipated funding—over $2.5 billion—was strictly conditioned on specific reforms. Both donors referred to the country’s lack of compliance with its obligations in the anticorruption and economic areas. In response, the Ukrainian government […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Feb 12, 2018

Is This the End of Mikheil Saakashvili in Ukraine?

By
Melinda Haring

Today opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili was deported to Poland. For months he has been leading protests outside of Ukraine’s parliament, urging President Petro Poroshenko to resign. The Saakashvili drama has been ongoing; last year he was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship and then reentered the country illegally. In December, he was arrested and then broke […]


The Caucasus


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Feb 9, 2018

What Do Ukraine, Congo, Cuba, North Korea, Tajikistan, and Venezuela Have in Common?

By
Maxim Martynyuk

Since 2014, when a democratic revolution triumphed in Ukraine, there have been two kinds of reports coming from my country: those about Ukrainians’ heroic resistance against Russian aggression, and those about the corruption that is destroying the country. The truth, of course, is more nuanced and mundane: Ukraine is gradually advancing, sometimes with two steps […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Feb 7, 2018

The View from Inside a Donetsk Prison

By
Matthew Kupfer

When Russian-led separatists seized control of Donetsk in 2014, Ihor Kozlovsky did what many residents of the city were doing: he stayed put. But unlike others, Kozlovsky was not a supporter of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DNR). In fact, he was a Ukrainian patriot, a professor and world-renowned expert of comparative religion at Donetsk […]


Russia


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Feb 7, 2018

Why Election Reform Should Be a Top Priority Now

By
Andrew Fink

Election reform in Ukraine is finally gaining some momentum. In December, parliament passed in the first reading draft law #3112-1, which creates an open list proportional election system and makes it easier for small parties to win seats in parliament. In addition, the president’s long-awaited list of candidates for the Central Election Commission has finally […]


Ukraine

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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

Jul 9, 2018

One Overlooked Issue That Ukraine’s Political Parties Should Seize Now

By Olena Prokopenko and Eugene Krapyvin

Police reform is still listed among Ukraine’s most successful reforms undertaken since the Revolution of Dignity, but it shouldn’t be. In 2014-2015, it served as a showcase demonstrating Ukraine’s progress. To be fair, some results had been attained by that point: the newly reshuffled patrol police force was more transparent, it demonstrated zero tolerance for […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 5, 2018

Poroshenko Should Get an Earful in Brussels, But Not for the Reasons You Expect

By Anna Kyslytska

On July 9, Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko and European Council President Donald Tusk plan to meet at the EU-Ukraine Summit in Brussels to discuss a range of issues. Anticorruption reform will rightfully be at the top of the list, but there’s another issue that the Europeans should raise forcefully. One that escapes the headlines.

European Union International Organizations

UkraineAlert

Jul 3, 2018

How the Tymoshenko We All Know Is Changing

By Mykola Vorobiov

On June 20, Yulia Tymoshenko officially announced that she’s running for president, which is no great surprise. The former prime minister tops the polls and it’s her race to lose.

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 3, 2018

Exclusive: New Party Enters Fray as Ukraine’s Opposition Tries to Unify

By Melinda Haring

Ukraine’s got a real chance to elect a reform-minded president if Western-leaning opposition parties unify. A dozen political consultants and smart Ukraine hands have told me that campaign funds will come if there’s unity, and with nearly 40 percent of voters still undecided, there’s still time to court voters ahead of the March 2019 presidential […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 2, 2018

Q&A: Will Trump Give Away Crimea at Helsinki?

By Melinda Haring

On June 29, President Donald Trump told reporters that he hasn’t ruled out recognizing Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014. Trump is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on July 16 and many worry that he may gamble away Crimea. US policy on Crimea has been consistent since 2014, and […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 29, 2018

Forget Defense Spending Debates. Here’s What NATO Summit Should Focus On

By Stephen Blank

From the standpoint of defense spending, Russia’s navy might be thought of as the neglected stepchild of the Russian military. But that conclusion would be wrong. That’s especially true if one considers its recent deployments and activities; in the past year, Russia has actively and strategically utilized its navy to send clear signals to its […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 28, 2018

Is Putin Planning a Post-World Cup Surprise?

By James Brooke

A Russia-Ukraine water war may emerge after the World Cup final on July 15. Just as President Vladimir Putin made his move to invade Crimea immediately after the conclusion of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, he could decide that it is once again time for decisive action after the Russia-hosted World Cup wraps up. Currently, […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 28, 2018

Ukraine Sacks Finance Minister. Will the New One Be Any Good?

By Oksana Bedratenko

Ukraine’s Finance Ministry doesn’t get enough credit. For four years it has been key to avoiding the worst of the economic downturn and attaining macroeconomic stability as the country continues to respond to Russian aggression. The Finance Ministry is in the spotlight again.

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 27, 2018

What Ukraine Needs Now

By Diane Francis

A prominent Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Gnap just threw his hat in the ring as a presidential candidate, and threw a spanner in the best laid plans of the country’s corrupt politicians and oligarchs. He has been an activist and a victim of the country’s corruption and is running because he’s fed up. He has exposed […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 26, 2018

Finally Some Good News from Ukraine

By Melinda Haring

It’s been six months since I’ve seen Ukraine’s most energetic minister, Dr. Ulana Suprun, and she’s been busy. Her comprehensive efforts to overhaul Ukraine’s dysfunctional health system are going well, she assures me. It’s the first time I’ve heard this statement about any reform anywhere in Kyiv.

Ukraine