Stay Updated

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

Jun 22, 2021

Land reform can make Ukraine an agricultural superpower

By
Roman Leshchenko

Ukraine stands today on the threshold of historic change. The country will launch its agricultural land market on July 1. This is one of the most significant landmarks in the 30 years of Ukrainian independence.


Corruption


Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Jun 22, 2021

Business community seeks to boost Ukraine’s market infrastructure

By
Andy Hunder

Ukrainian officials and representatives of the business community signed a memorandum of understanding on June 8 for the NEXT-UA initiative, which aims to help buttress Ukraine’s market infrastructure.


Economy & Business


Fiscal and Structural Reform


UkraineAlert

Jun 19, 2021

The dangers of echoing Russian disinformation on Ukraine

By
Andreas Umland

Disinformation has been central to Russia's seven-year hybrid war against Ukraine. By echoing Kremlin narratives, Western commentators risk enabling Russian aggression and undermining international security.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jun 19, 2021

Ukraine’s choice: corruption or growth

By
Willem Buiter

As Ukraine prepares to mark 30 years of independence, it is clear that until corruption is confronted in a comprehensive and decisive manner, it will continue to prevent the country from achieving economic growth.


Corruption


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Jun 19, 2021

Armenian voters offered false choice between security and democracy

By
Lusine Hakobyan

Armenians will go to the polls on June 20 in snap parliamentary elections that the opposition seeks to position as a straight choice between democracy and security following the country's 2020 military defeat.


Democratic Transitions


Elections


UkraineAlert

Jun 17, 2021

Biden-Putin summit review: Good news for Ukraine?

By
Peter Dickinson

Few countries were as anxious as Ukraine ahead of Wednesday’s summit in Geneva between US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, but can Kyiv regard the outcome as favorable?


Conflict


Politics & Diplomacy


UkraineAlert

Jun 15, 2021

Putin’s Ukraine War: Will Russia attempt a Black Sea blockade?

By
Andriy Zagorodnyuk

The international community spent much of April 2021 nervously watching the Ukrainian border for signs of a new Kremlin offensive, but Russia's next escalation may come in the Black Sea.


Conflict


Maritime Security


UkraineAlert

Jun 14, 2021

Geopolitical weapon: Putin’s pipeline nears completion

By
Benjamin Schmitt

This week's summit meeting between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin may be one of the last opportunities for the US to take a stand against the Kremlin's controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.


Geopolitics & Energy Security


Russia


UkraineAlert

Jun 12, 2021

NATO must stand with Ukraine against Russian aggression

By
Paul Grod

NATO's 2008 decision to deny Ukraine a Membership Action Plan paved the way for Putin's 2014 attack. NATO leaders must now back Ukraine to prevent a further escalation in Russia's war on the post-1991 settlement.


Conflict


NATO Partnerships


UkraineAlert

Jun 10, 2021

Pro-Kremlin propaganda in Ukraine changes tone

By
Peter Pomerantsev, Inna Nelles, Volodymyr Yermolenko, Angelina Kariakina

Pro-Kremlin propaganda in Ukraine is changing. Praising Putin is a harder sell since the 2014 invasion, so now the focus is less on boosting Russia and more about making the West look just as bad.


Disinformation


Media

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.

The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values, and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia, and Central Asia in the East.

Follow us on social media
and support our work

Content

UkraineAlert

Mar 28, 2018

Ukraine’s Glaring National Security Gap that No One Has Heard Of

By Anders Åslund

My article about Ukraine’s new electricity tariffs aroused quite a few interesting comments, which deserve responses. Since these comments are private and many from people in high positions, I shall not mention their names. The arguments circle around pricing, ownership, privatization, investment, and taxation. The natural start is ownership. No one favors state enterprises. They […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 27, 2018

Good to Be King: Ukraine’s Fugitive Oligarch Blocks Reforms and Benefits from International Handouts While Under House Arrest

By Oleksandr Kharchenko

Corruption is still a major challenge in Ukraine, and the energy sector is particularly vulnerable to illegal activity. But although it is tempting to view corruption as a problem indigenous to Ukraine, outside actors—sometimes tolerated or even supported by the government in Kyiv—play a leading role in perpetuating corruption inside Ukraine. A key illustration of […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 25, 2018

Exclusive: New Owner of Kyiv Post Promises Editorial Independence

By Diane Francis

On March 21, the hearts of reformers and journalists sank when Mohammad Zahoor sold the crusading Kyiv Post to Odesa businessman Adnan Kivan. Many were convinced that the new owner would soften the editorial line of Ukraine’s top English language newspaper. But in an interview March 25, Kivan said he bought the newspaper because of […]

Russia Syria

UkraineAlert

Mar 23, 2018

Ukraine Is Serious about Privatization This Time

By Oksana Bedratenko

Since 2014, privatization in Ukraine has made little progress. Well-connected oligarchs could no longer dominate the privatization process, as had often been the case in the past because of strengthened public scrutiny and involvement of international donors, yet vested interests were still powerful enough to block privatizations and the lingering problems associated with the country’s […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 21, 2018

Crucial EU Initiative that Outs Kremlin Lies Under Fire

By Halya Coynash

A crucial program that identifies Kremlin methods of disinformation has come under attack. Alarmingly, one of the key accusations is that its activities constitute an attempt to restrict freedom of speech. The situation could not be more absurd.  The program running into such controversy is the East Stratcom Task Force and the EU vs Disinfo […]

European Union International Organizations

UkraineAlert

Mar 21, 2018

How the US Can Shore Up Ukraine’s Vulnerabilities in the Black Sea

By Stephen Blank

Four years after the invasion of Crimea and the Donbas, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine continues unabated. For all the failures of the government in Kyiv to reform, Ukraine is still fighting our war. Were it not for Ukrainians’ willingness to defend themselves, NATO would be spending a fortune to reform its past structures and procedures […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 20, 2018

Why Nord Stream 2 Isn’t Just an Ordinary Pipeline

By Diane Francis

Of all nations, Germany must heed the lessons of history, both current and past. This begs the question as to why Germany would help Europe become more energy dependent on a country like Russia that ignores norms, contracts, laws, treaties, and borders. And yet that is exactly what Germany is about to do if it […]

Germany Russia

UkraineAlert

Mar 19, 2018

Ukraine should remove “stringent” disclosure law on civil society

By Gina S. Lentine

There has been an ominous change in the state of freedom of association in Ukraine over the last year. One of Ukraine’s leading activists, Vitaliy Shabunin of the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC), is facing trial on criminal charges and could receive up to five years in prison. The charges are at best exaggerated and at […]

Corruption Rule of Law

UkraineAlert

Mar 15, 2018

Sorry, Putin. Crimea still isn’t yours

By Alexander Vershbow

We must make clear to Moscow that any return to “business as usual” in the West’s relations with Moscow cannot begin without the return of the Donbas, and that no improvement in relations can be complete without the return of Crimea.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 15, 2018

One Overlooked and Easy Way the Trump Administration Can Help Ukraine

By Anders Åslund

Diplomatic relations between the United States and Ukraine are eminent. As former US Ambassador to Ukraine Steven Pifer writes in his new book, The Eagle and the Trident, they have almost always been good. Ukraine’s outstanding sacrifice was to give up the third largest nuclear force in the world. An unfortunate consequence was that Russia […]

Ukraine