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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 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


UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2022

The US must show leadership in countering Putin’s imperial ambitions

By
Eugene Czolij

The United States needs to assume a strong leadership position in international efforts to counter Putin’s imperial ambitions. Putin has made clear what he wants. It is time for America to deliver an equally emphatic response.


Conflict


Cybersecurity


UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2022

Inside Putin’s Ukraine obsession

By
Taras Kuzio

When Russian President Vladimir Putin laments the fall of the USSR and speaks about the injustice of the post-Soviet settlement, he is really thinking of Russian imperialism and has Ukraine primarily in mind.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jan 25, 2022

Survey: Western public backs stronger support for Ukraine against Russia

By
Carl Bildt, Aleksander Kwasniewski, Victor Pinchuk, Anders Fogh Rasmussen

A recent six-country opinion survey commissioned by the Yalta European Strategy and Victor Pinchuk Foundation has identified strong Western public backing for an assertive policy in support of Ukraine.


Conflict


Democratic Transitions

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Content

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

UkraineAlert

Apr 26, 2018

Leak May Put Brakes on Putin’s European Pipeline Dominance

By Oleksandr Kharchenko

Gazprom has been making headlines in Europe lately. And not in a good way. The leaking of a 271-page report compiled by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition, which describes violations of European legislation by the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, recently became a sensation. It’s not, however, because the report reveals any previously unknown facts. […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 25, 2018

What Happened to the Ships the US Tried to Give to Ukraine?

By Valeriya Yegoshyna

Editor’s note: On September 27, the United States officially transferred two former 110-foot Coast Guard cutters ships to Ukraine. However, the question remains: why did it take the Ukrainian government nearly four-and-a-half years to accept the US offer? We recommend the excellent RFE/RL “Schemes” investigation below.  Four years after Crimea’s annexation, Ukraine is still struggling to […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 24, 2018

What Europe’s Forgotten War Actually Feels Like

By Ruslan Minich

“We were moving through flashing fields. And I realized history was evolving right in front of my very eyes. I had yellow goggles on; everything was yellow with them. I took the goggles off, and then the wind started blowing in my eyes. I couldn’t see anything,” says volunteer soldier Bizhan Sharopov, who fought against […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 24, 2018

Ukraine May Be Getting Its Own Church, but Not as Fast as Poroshenko Thinks

By James J. Coyle

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced on April 17 that Ukraine might have an independent, unified Ukrainian Orthodox Church as early as July 28—the anniversary of Kyivan Rus’ adoption of Christianity. He made this prediction after the Ukrainian parliament voted to support the president’s efforts to convince Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to grant autocephalous status to the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 24, 2018

As Some Bail, Denis Gursky Sees Ukraine as Land of Opportunity, and Thinks You Should Too

By Melinda Haring

It’s Easter Monday in Kyiv, a holiday, and no one is working except Denis Gursky. The affable Mariupol native has an anxiety-inducing to-do list, but you wouldn’t know it from his easy laugh and wide smile. We meet at Gursky’s stunning new 500-square meter co-working space in Kyiv’s tallest commercial building to discuss Ukraine’s unique […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 19, 2018

How to Build a Real Political Party in Ukraine

By Viola Gienger

Oleksandr Solontay is trying to accomplish the political equivalent of pushing Ukraine’s winter snow uphill. In a country that still struggles to shake its addiction to oligarchs and other figureheads despite multiple attempts at revolution, the thirty-seven-year old is aiming to construct a political party from the ground up. Solontay, an educator and former city […]

Ukraine