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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 23, 2020

Zelenskyy puts Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic future at risk

By
Mykola Vorobiov

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised to end an era of corruption. Instead, he stands accused of reversing the limited progress of recent years and opening the door to Russian revenge.


Democratic Transitions


Political Reform


UkraineAlert

Sep 23, 2020

Ukraine’s booming IT sector can drive positive change

By
Yuliya Rimsky and Filip Sasic

As the international community seeks ways to strengthen Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration, private sector investment in the country’s attractive IT industry could have a significant and positive role to play.


Cybersecurity


Entrepreneurship


UkraineAlert

Sep 22, 2020

Desecration of genocide monument marks a new low in Ukraine’s memory wars

By
John Vsetecka

The recent desecration of an iconic Kyiv statue honoring the millions of Ukrainians killed in the 1930s Soviet genocide marks a new low in the memory wars over the country's troubled and traumatic past.


Disinformation


Resilience & Society


UkraineAlert

Sep 17, 2020

Why Ukraine needs a new approach to refugees

By
Eric Fritz

Refugees in Ukraine currently face an uphill battle, but if the Ukrainian authorities were to invest more in refugee resettlement programs, the country as a whole would inevitably benefit in the long run.


Human Rights


Migration


BelarusAlert

Sep 17, 2020

Belarus national awakening offers hope for Ukraine as Soviet collapse continues

By
Solomiia Bobrovska

Belarus has emerged from its post-Soviet slumber and has set out on the road to democracy. This is good news for the Belarusians themselves. It is also a welcome development for Ukraine but less so for Russia.


Belarus


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Sep 15, 2020

Five predictions for Ukraine’s local elections

By
Brian Mefford

Ukrainians go to the polls on October 25 to vote in local elections that promise to serve as the first major electoral test for President Zelenskyy since he and his party swept to power last year.


Elections


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Sep 15, 2020

Ukraine’s reforms remain hostage to corrupt courts

By
Diane Francis

In 2019, political newcomer Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his party won historic election victories based largely on the appeal of promises to eradicate corruption. Just over one year later, these efforts are backsliding and in danger of ending entirely.


Corruption


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Sep 10, 2020

Football fairytale: Ukrainian village team Kolos prepares to join Europa League elite

By
Andrew Todos

Ukrainian village team Kolos Kovalivka are preparing to write a new chapter in what is one of the most romantic stories in modern football history when the club makes its Europa League debut in Greece.


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Sep 10, 2020

Ukraine’s education sector reforms are under threat

By
Liliia Hrynevych and Ivanna Kobernyk

Education sector reform is widely seen as one of the more successful transformations in Ukraine since the country’s 2014 Revolution of Dignity but this progress is now under threat amid a changing political climate.


Education


Ukraine


BelarusAlert

Sep 8, 2020

Will Belarus follow Ukraine out of the Russian orbit?

By
Taras Kuzio

By intervening in Belarus to prop up his fellow post-Soviet dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Vladimir Putin risks repeating the mistakes made in Ukraine and fueling anti-Russian sentiment among Belarusians.


Belarus


Conflict

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

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

UkraineAlert

May 1, 2018

Moscow’s Maritime Threats to Ukraine and the West

By Stephen Blank

Russia’s recent naval activity around Ukraine and the Baltic Sea is more than simply a threat to countries in the region. In fact, it represents a challenge to the international order, one that could be replicated by other rogue nations. Since invading Ukraine in 2014, Moscow has become significantly bolder.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 1, 2018

Why the Seven Arguments Used to Justify Nord Stream II Are Just Plain Wrong

By Aliona Osmolovska

Proponents of Russia’s Nord Stream II pipeline rely on at least seven arguments to explain their support for the politically motivated project. The trouble is, these justifications are based on incorrect assumptions or outright disinformation. We identified the seven myths and then used publicly available facts to set the record straight.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 30, 2018

Q&A: Ukraine’s Got Javelins Now. So What?

By Melinda Haring

On April 30, the US Department of State confirmed to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty the delivery of Javelin antitank missile systems to Ukraine. This issue has been long-standing: the Obama administration refused to send the weapons to Kyiv, while President Donald Trump changed course. Some experts warn that giving Ukraine lethal defensive weapons will only […]

Ukraine