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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

Apr 18, 2023

Vladimir Kara-Murza’s 25-year sentence is a verdict against all Russians

By
Arseniy Yatsenyuk

Vladimir Kara-Murza's 25-year prison sentence for speaking the truth about the invasion of Ukraine is a major milestone in modern Russia's descent into Stalinism, says former Ukrainian PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Apr 14, 2023

Ukrainian victory “could help ensure Europe’s future energy security”

By
Diane Francis

Ukraine has massive potential to increase domestic energy production and could eventually replace Russian energy exports to the European Union in the post-war era, says Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov.


Conflict


European Union


UkraineAlert

Apr 13, 2023

Putin cancels Victory Day parades as Ukraine invasion continues to unravel

By
Peter Dickinson

The cancellation of Victory Day parades in multiple Russian regional capitals is a blow to Putin's personal prestige that exposes the grim reality behind Moscow's upbeat propaganda portrayals of the faltering Ukraine invasion, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Apr 12, 2023

Poland and Ukraine: The emerging alliance that could reshape Europe

By
Taras Kuzio

Poland's leading role in the European response to Russia's Ukraine invasion is fueling talk of a eastward shift in Europe's geopolitical center of gravity with the Polish-Ukrainian alliance set to become increasingly influential.


Conflict


Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Apr 11, 2023

Ukraine’s energy sector survives winter

By
Suriya Evans-Pritchard Jayanti

Vladimir Putin's winter bombing campaign targeting Ukraine's civilian infrastructure failed to achieve its goal of breaking Ukrainian resistance and freezing the country into submission, writes Suriya Evans-Pritchard Jayanti.


Conflict


Energy Markets & Governance


UkraineAlert

Apr 11, 2023

Ukraine resumes electricity exports in latest show of wartime resilience

By
Aura Sabadus

Ukraine resumed energy exports to Europe in early April. The move confirmed the failure of Russia's six-month energy infrastructure bombing campaign and underlined Ukraine's remarkable wartime resilience, writes Aura Sabadus.


Conflict


Energy Transitions


UkraineAlert

Apr 10, 2023

Russian nukes in Belarus: Putin’s creeping annexation continues

By
Hanna Liubakova

Putin's plan to place nukes in Belarus has been widely interpreted as as an escalation in his ongoing nuclear saber-rattling tactics but it will also greatly strengthen the Russian dictator's grip over the neighboring country.


Belarus


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Apr 8, 2023

Human wave tactics are demoralizing the Russian army in Ukraine

By
Olivia Yanchik

Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has not gone according to plan but he still hopes to win a long war of attrition. However, Russia's reliance on human wave tactics risks undermining morale within his invading army, writes Olivia Yanchik.


Conflict


Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Apr 6, 2023

NATO poses a threat to Russian imperialism not Russian security

By
Peter Dickinson

Russia's passive acceptance of neighboring Finland's NATO membership raises serious questions over the Kremlin's efforts to portray the invasion of Ukraine as a response to NATO expansion, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Apr 6, 2023

Anti-war Russians struggle to be heard

By
Christopher Isajiw

The Kremlin has worked hard to create the impression of overwhelming Russian public support for the invasion of Ukraine but anti-war sentiment may become more visible if Putin's army suffers further battlefield defeats, writes Christopher Isajiw.


Civil Society


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

Nov 8, 2017

Why Russia’s War against Ukraine May Never End

By Kornely Kakachia and Joseph Larsen

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently requested a UN peacekeeping mission for eastern Ukraine. While at home this looks like a peace overture, Putin is not motivated by the desire for amity. The proposal is similar to Russian actions in Georgia prior to 2008, when it supported a UN observer mission in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone […]

Russia The Caucasus

UkraineAlert

Nov 8, 2017

Why Are Prestigious Institutions Sponsoring a Russian Propaganda Concert in Washington?

By Diane Francis

In April 2015, Ukrainian-born pianist Valentina Lisitsa was to perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. But the concert was abruptly canceled because she expressed, to her huge online following, hurtful anti-Ukrainian messages and support for pro-Russia separatists who had invaded and occupied eastern Ukraine. “As one of Canada’s most important […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 7, 2017

What the Odesa Port Saga Means for Reform in Ukraine

By Peter J. Marzalik

In an interview last October, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman revealed that not a single x-ray scanner was operational at customs checkpoints in Ukraine, suggesting that corrupt customs officers had deliberately damaged the equipment to facilitate criminal activity. The accusation speaks to the severity of entrenched corruption in the customs services of Ukraine, even amid […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 6, 2017

Q&A: How Can Ukraine Get a Better Grade on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index?

By Melinda Haring

Ukraine just received a marginally better grade on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index, moving from 80th place in 2017 to 76th place in 2018. Kyiv reduced the cost of construction permits, strengthened minority investor protections, and reduced labor taxes. To put things in perspective, it’s easier to do business in Azerbaijan, Belarus, […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 6, 2017

Why We Don’t Live Like Britain

By Sergey Fursa

Having admitted to a decade-old sexual harassment incident in which he touched a journalist’s knee at a party conference, British Defense Minister Michael Fallon resigned, stating, “I accept that in the past I have fallen below the high standards that we require of the Armed Forces that I have the honor to represent…I am therefore […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 2, 2017

Pragmatism Prevails over Populism in Ukraine

By Brian Mefford

Successful politics is about getting things done. By that standard, October was a successful month. Not only did the government pass sweeping healthcare reform, pension reform, and judiciary reform, it also staved off populist protests. In short, pragmatism prevailed over populism. Each of the reforms passed was significant, but healthcare reform was the most far-reaching. […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2017

Groisman Tells Investors that Shakedowns and Harassment Will End

By Diane Francis

Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman welcomes the creation of an independent anticorruption court in Ukraine and says it will be operating in 2018. “The debate was whether this court should be independent or a chamber. This was a waste of time,” he said in an extensive interview in Toronto. “From day one, I was in support […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2017

In Lviv, World-Class Learning Center Opens Where Soviets Wanted Drab Building

By Melinda Haring

On September 10, Ukrainian Catholic University opened a 64,874 square foot world-class library and educational center in Lviv, Ukraine. Ukrainian Catholic University, the first Catholic university in the former Soviet Union, strives to provide an open, progressive, and democratic learning environment for its students and the community. Canadian businessman and philanthropist James Temerty was the […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2017

What Manafort’s Indictment Means for the US and Ukraine

By Anders Åslund

The most surprising thing about the thirty-one-page indictment of Paul J. Manafort, Jr. and his business partner Richard W. Gates III by Special Counsel Robert Mueller is that it hardly contains anything that was not known to people who have observed Ukraine. Manafort was the all-dominant political advisor to former President Viktor Yanukovych from the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 30, 2017

How to End the War in Eastern Ukraine

By Alexander Vershbow

The recent US debate about Russia has focused mainly on Moscow’s disinformation, propaganda, and interference in our elections. But Russia’s aggression against Ukraine remains the original sin and the biggest threat. It’s not just Ukraine’s survival as an independent, democratic state that is on the line, but the future of an international order based on […]

Russia Ukraine