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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

Nov 6, 2018

Russia Shows its Military Might in the Black Sea and Beyond

By
Ruslan Minich

Since illegally annexing Crimea in 2014, Russia has drastically increased its military presence in the Black Sea region. The Kremlin’s dominance may be temporary given NATO’s greater capacities, but so far, NATO’s response has been limited. “Russia has practically covered all of the Black Sea region,” says Hryhorii Perepelytsia, the head of the Kyiv-based Foreign […]


Russia


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Nov 6, 2018

Why Is the Sea of Azov So Important?

By
Stephen Blank

Having illegally annexed Crimea in 2014, Moscow lost no time in seizing Ukrainian energy assets in and around the region. The Kremlin is now conducting another experiment in economic and military operations, but this one has profound implications beyond Ukraine. Before the seizure of Crimea, both Ukraine and Russia agreed to regard the Sea of […]


Russia


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Nov 2, 2018

Making Sense of Russia’s New Draconian Sanctions on Ukraine

By
Anders Åslund

On November 1, the Russian government imposed severe economic sanctions on 322 Ukrainian individuals and 68 Ukrainian companies. These are the most extensive sanctions imposed by any country in the tit-for-tat confrontation between Russia and Western countries over Ukraine. Curiously, these sanctions are explicitly only economic, declaring that any assets on the territory of the […]


Russia


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Nov 1, 2018

Russia Understands Ukraine’s Geopolitical Importance but Does the West?

By
Peter Dickinson

As Ukraine prepares to mark five years since the start of the country’s Euromaidan protests, the repercussions continue to reverberate across the globe. What began as an ordinary protest movement soon morphed into a revolution that sparked a Russian invasion and ushered in a new Cold War. Without the Euromaidan, Russia and the West would […]


Russia


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Nov 1, 2018

Ukrainian Populists Still Think They Can Be Pro-EU but Anti-IMF. They’re Wrong.

By
Taras Kuzio

Ukrainian voters have long believed that in her drive for power, long-time politician Yulia Tymoshenko will do and say anything. This is not unusual for populists who routinely make promises that cannot be met and are flexible with the truth. That characteristic has been on display since Tymoshenko announced her intention to run for the […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2018

Georgia, Where Everything Old Is Maybe New Again?

By
Luis Navarro

On October 28, Georgians went to the polls to elect their fifth president, possibly for the last time. Neither candidate, both former foreign ministers, won outright. An unprecedented run-off is slated for December 2.    The United National Movement (UNM) presidential candidate Grigol Vashadze achieved an unexpectedly strong showing (37.7 percent) against the ruling Georgian […]


Russia


The Caucasus


UkraineAlert

Oct 30, 2018

10 Names Russia Hopes You’ll Never Know

By
Vitalii Rybak

Since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Moscow and its proxies have put dozens of Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar political prisoners behind bars. However, there are many other people in Russian prisons who have been incarcerated for their unwillingness to bow down to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime. The fabrication of these cases has been refined […]


Russia


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 30, 2018

Five ways to entice Ukrainians to come home

By
Andy Hunder

Approximately five million Ukrainians, roughly 25 percent of the country’s economically active population, work abroad.


Macroeconomics


Migration


UkraineAlert

Oct 29, 2018

How Ukraine’s Presidential Race Is Shaping Up

By
Mykola Vorobiov

Ukraine’s presidential race is in full swing, even though the official campaign period has not yet begun. At this point, incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko may make the second round; no candidate is expected to take 50 percent in the first round. If elections were held now, Tymoshenko would take […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 24, 2018

Three More Reasons to Be Bullish on Ukraine

By
Melinda Haring

Ukraine’s civil society is realizing an unfortunate fact: reforming the country is going to be more of a marathon than a sprint. Consequently, pro-reform advocates have had to adjust their expectations. Describing her hopes for the speed of change in Ukraine, Anticorruption Action Center executive director Daria Kaleniuk said that she and her colleagues now […]


Ukraine

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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.

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Content

UkraineAlert

Feb 27, 2018

Rebel Radio: New Station Challenges Oligarchs’ Media Monopoly in Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

“We do not feel any pressure from the government,” says Vitaly Sych, the chief editor of Ukraine’s most ambitious independent media holding. “Sometimes we have a dialogue with the authorities, but that is healthy. We recently published a lead article that was highly critical of Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko. He contacted me personally and we […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 27, 2018

Ukraine’s Unexpected Leaders

By Diane Francis

In the summer of 2013, Alex Ryabchyn completed his master’s degree at Sussex University in the United Kingdom, then moved back with his wife and daughter to teach at Donetsk National University in eastern Ukraine. That December, the Maidan erupted and he watched from afar with concern. Then in March 2014, after little green men […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 26, 2018

Why Boris Nemtsov Still Matters Today

By Alexandra Yatsyk

Three years ago, Boris Nemtsov, one of the top Russian politicians during the 1990s and a vocal dissident throughout Vladimir Putin’s long reign, was shot dead near the Kremlin in Moscow. The death of this talented, passionate, and charismatic patriot shocked liberal and progressive communities in Russia and abroad. Tragically, Nemtsov joins a long list […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 26, 2018

How I Remember Boris Nemtsov

By Vladimir Kara-Murza

Editor’s note: Russian politician Boris Nemtsov was assassinated on February 27, 2015, in Moscow, Russia. Below his friend and fellow activist Vladimir Kara-Murza remembers the slain leader. Throughout his political life, Boris Nemtsov was a maverick, a “white crow,” as we say in Russian, always choosing principles over political expediency—as when he took on the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 26, 2018

Canada’s Big Opportunity to Push Back Against Putin

By Danylo Lubkivsky and Volodymyr Yermolenko

Canada assumed the G7 presidency on January 1, 2018, and this platform offers a valuable opportunity to inject some new energy into the international response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and aggression in eastern Ukraine. Under Canada’s leadership, the G7 can spotlight human rights violations in both annexed Crimea and the occupied Donbas. Canada is […]

Ukraine United States and Canada

UkraineAlert

Feb 26, 2018

Ukraine Still Needs an Anti-Corruption Court

By Josh Cohen

The dramatic detainment of Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov by detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) at Kyiv’s Boryspil Airport after a long absence from the country demonstrates why Ukraine desperately needs an anti-corruption court. While Trukhanov has long been suspected of mafia ties and  involvement in multiple corrupt schemes, the Solomiansky District Court released Trukhanov without bail, instead requiring only the personal guarantee of Poroshenko […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 26, 2018

Ukraine’s Stolen History, Stolen Culture

By Lesia Kuruts-Tkach

Until recently, Ukrainian culture was perceived internationally as a subset of Russian culture. Even now, after Ukraine has had almost twenty-seven years of independence and with hundreds of years of history behind it, Ukrainian history is often presented as Russian. Mykola Gogol, Volodymyr the Great, the Kyivan Rus, Anne of Kyiv—all of this is Ukrainian, […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 22, 2018

Ukraine Is Not an Afterthought

By Stephen Blank

One of the Russians attending the Munich Security Conference last week tweeted that based on the speeches he had heard, Ukraine was an afterthought in Europe. Nothing would comfort Moscow more than to believe that for the West, Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is merely a minor concern. That would make the tasks of obstructing the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 21, 2018

Ukraine Can Do Far Better, Aivaras Abromavičius Says

By Iuliia Mendel

In December 2014, President Petro Poroshenko granted citizenship to three foreign technocrats, Lithuanian Aivaras Abromavičius, American Natalie Jaresko, and Georgian Alexander Kvitashvili, who were nominated for cabinet positions. The foreign masterminds were expected to contribute expert advice to overcome the severe economic and defense threats facing Ukraine. Minister of Economic Development and Trade Aivaras Abromavičius […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 20, 2018

How to Remember the Final Days of Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution

By Paul Niland

For those of us who were on the ground in Kyiv, Ukraine, in the middle of the burning barricades from February 18 to 20, 2014, we could have no idea where or when or how the revolution would end. During those three February days, more than one hundred were killed, thousands were wounded, and dozens […]

Ukraine