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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

May 14, 2022

Ukraine wins Eurovision as European voters show song contest solidarity

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine's Eurovision victory is a soft power success story that underlines the country's dominance over Russia on the information front while highlighting the strength of international solidary and support for Ukraine.


Conflict


Europe & Eurasia


UkraineAlert

May 12, 2022

Independent Ukraine’s first president Leonid Kravchuk dies aged 88

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s first post-Soviet president Leonid Kravchuk passed away on May 10. He is best remembered for his leading role in the 1991 Ukrainian Declaration of Independence and the collapse of the Soviet Union.


Conflict


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

May 12, 2022

Putin’s Imperial War: Russia unveils plans to annex southern Ukraine

By
Peter Dickinson

Kremlin officials have underlined the expansionist imperial agenda driving Putin's Ukraine war by announcing plans to officially annex Ukraine's Kherson Oblast and incorporate it into the Russian Federation.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

May 11, 2022

Kazakhstan cancels Victory Day in protest over Putin’s Ukraine War

By
Wilder Alejandro Sánchez, Kamila Auyezova

Kazakhstan's recent decision to cancel the country's annual WWII Victory Day parade was a small but significant indication of Nur-Sultan's opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.


Central Asia


Conflict


UkraineAlert

May 8, 2022

Vladimir Putin’s WWII victory cult is a recipe for international aggression

By
Andrej Lushnycky

Vladimir Putin has transformed Russia's traditional Victory Day commemorations marking the defeat of Nazi Germany into a nationalistic celebration of militarism that helps justify Moscow's war of aggression in Ukraine.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

May 6, 2022

Countering the Kremlin: America must not wait for European unity

By
Olexander Scherba

Vladimir Putin's ongoing invasion of Ukraine marks the culmination of Russia’s long campaign to corrupt Europe. The EU condemns the war while at the same time sponsoring it, writes Olexander Scherba.


Conflict


Corruption


UkraineAlert

May 6, 2022

Making Putin pay: Russia must finance the rebuilding of post-war Ukraine

By
Kira Rudik

Making Putin pay: Russian assets currently frozen in the West could potentially be used to finance the rebuilding of post-war Ukraine but this will require both creativity and political will from Western leaders.


Conflict


Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

May 4, 2022

Foreign policy realists should be bolder about defeating Putin in Ukraine

By
Henrik Larsen

Foreign policy realists have urged caution over Ukraine but as the conflict grinds on it is now time to recognize that the democratic world has a significant interest in securing Vladimir Putin's decisive defeat.


Conflict


European Union


UkraineAlert

May 2, 2022

Lavrov’s anti-Semitic outburst exposes absurdity of Russia’s “Nazi Ukraine” claims

By
Peter Dickinson

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has sparked a diplomatic scandal with an anti-Semitic outburst that underlines the absurdity of Russia’s relentless “Nazi Ukraine” propaganda claims.


Conflict


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

May 1, 2022

Finally! German MPs back heavy weapons for Ukraine in historic vote

By
Vitaly Sych

The German Bundestag on April 28 finally agreed to supply heavy weapons to Ukraine in an historic vote that marked a departure from months of caution in Berlin and efforts to avoid confrontation with the Kremlin.


Conflict


Corruption

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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

Jan 16, 2018

Why Is Hungary Blocking Ukraine’s Western Integration?

By Péter Krekó and Patrik Szicherle

For the first time since the Maidan revolution, Ukraine’s road to the transatlantic community is being actively blocked not only by Russia but by an EU and NATO member state as well: Hungary. While Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been a vocal critic of sanctions and is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strongest allies […]

Hungary Russia

UkraineAlert

Jan 11, 2018

Why Are We Letting Russia Destroy a 16th Century Palace in Crimea?

By Halya Coynash

There are compelling grounds for fearing that Russia’s restoration work on the world-renowned Khan’s Palace in Bakhchysarai could forever destroy this vital monument of Crimean Tatar cultural heritage. While Russia denies the accusations, photos smuggled off the site are alarming, as are the construction company’s and architectural firm’s lack of experience in restoration work. The […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 10, 2018

Ukraine’s Got Plenty of Young, Principled, Genuinely European-Oriented Politicians

By Melinda Haring

Bloomberg columnist Leonid Bershidsky recently claimed that “it’s not easy to find younger, more principled, genuinely European-oriented politicians in Ukraine, but they exist.” In fact, Mr. Bershidsky, it’s really not that hard. In 2017, we profiled the promising and idealistic Olena Sotnyk and Sergiy Gusovsky, a Ukrainian MP and a member of the Kyiv city […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 10, 2018

Ukraine: What to Expect in 2018

By Ruslan Minich

One should not have wild expectations for Ukraine this year. Although the country is more than a year away from the March 2019 presidential election, structural reforms won’t be a focus, international donors are getting impatient, and a large amount of debt is coming due.   What should we expect and follow in Ukraine this […]

European Union International Organizations

UkraineAlert

Jan 8, 2018

This Time It Will Be Very, Very Different

By Diane Francis

In 2014, a 16-year-old Ukrainian, nicknamed Maley, watched the Euromaidan Revolution and Russian invasion on television and contacted his local army recruitment office to sign up. His calls went unanswered, so he took a train from the Carpathians to the front, armed with his grandfather’s hunting rifle and a brass plate bought by his mother […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 5, 2018

With Russia on the Sidelines, China Moves Aggressively into Ukraine

By James Brooke

On Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, the most active foreign actor is not Russia. It’s China. On the Danube, Chinese investors are mulling buying a Ukrainian river shipping company that could insert Chinese products deep into Eastern Europe. At the two big ports flanking Odesa, China Harbor Engineering Company just finished dredging Yuzhny and now is […]

China Russia

UkraineAlert

Jan 5, 2018

How to Bring Peace to the Donbas. (Yes, It’s Possible)

By Alexander Vershbow

Last month Vladimir Putin reopened the door to the creation of a peacekeeping force in Eastern Ukraine. Deploying such a force, if done properly, could bring peace to a conflict that has dragged on for nearly four years. Without it, the conflict could return to a boil, jeopardizing Ukraine’s stability and destroying any basis for […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 5, 2018

Slain Lawyer Becomes an Icon of Unfinished Reforms in Ukraine

By Maxim Eristavi

The holiday season ended abruptly on January 1 as Ukrainians learned about the murder of lawyer and human rights activist Iryna Nozdrovska. This is a gruesome start for 2018, even for a country at war. We stopped having regular New Year’s holidays years ago. Not many felt like celebrating while soldiers were dying in the […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 4, 2018

In Kyiv and Chisinau, Citizens Thirsty for Reform But the Governments Aren’t

By Dumitru Alaiba

On December 1, the European Union withheld payment of €600 million to Ukraine for falling short on four reforms. The deal is conditional, and this final tranche is on hold until Ukraine follows through on its commitments. Meanwhile, one week before, at the Eastern Partnership Summit, the EU agreed to provide Moldova with €100 million […]

Moldova Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 4, 2018

Why No Major Western Defense Company Will Invest in Ukraine

By Michael Carpenter

One of the biggest challenges facing Ukraine today is how to transform its inefficient, overcentralized, and opaque defense industry into a leading supplier of weapons and equipment for its frontline troops and an engine for economic growth and foreign currency revenues. Both of these goals are within reach, but only if Ukraine’s leaders can summon […]

Russia Ukraine