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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

Jul 26, 2018

How to Make Disappointed Ukrainians Believe Again

By
Elena Tribushnaya

This month, the Ukrainian magazine Novoye Vremya interviewed fifty experts to assess President Petro Poroshenko’s achievements after four years. The result was a score of just six out of twelve.


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jul 26, 2018

Why Is Ukraine Still So Poor?

By
Basil Kalymon and Oleh Havrylyshyn

Ukraine should have been a prosperous, middle-income country by now. Instead, it is one of the poorest in Europe. Ukrainians are only slightly richer than Moldovans. Since Ukraine’s independence, we, as members of the diaspora, have had a keen interest in the country’s development. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, there were great expectations […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jul 24, 2018

Drones, Video Cameras, and Online Searches: How One Team Catches Ukraine’s Crooks

By
Josh Cohen

Exposing corrupt Ukrainian judges and prosecutors might sound dangerous, but for Kate Butko, it’s nothing compared to what she’s previously dealt with. Butko runs PROSUD, an eleven-person project founded in 2016 by activists from the Automaidan, an anticorruption nongovernmental organization that organized car owners during the Euromaidan. Funded by the National Endowment for Democracy and […]


UkraineAlert

Jul 24, 2018

Ukrainians Want New Leaders. Here’s How They Can Bring in Fresh Faces

By
Brian Mefford

It’s no surprise that public opinion polls show that Ukrainians are largely disappointed with the same old faces and choices in politics. The candidates expected to run in the 2019 presidential election aren’t new. Out of frustration with the unaccountability of the current parliament, there was a big push this spring to switch to an […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jul 24, 2018

What Do the Brussels and Helsinki Summits Mean for Ukraine?

By
Stephen Blank

Before the NATO summit in Brussels and the Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki, many observers were apprehensive about Ukraine’s prospects at these events. As it turned out, in Brussels, NATO strongly supported Ukraine’s sovereignty and integrity. The alliance committed to further development of the bilateral partnership, encouraged Ukraine to make the best use of its opportunities […]


NATO


Russia


UkraineAlert

Jul 23, 2018

Russia has no place in the OSCE special monitoring mission in Ukraine

By
Paul Niland

It will be difficult to get some other OSCE member countries, allies of Russia, to accept that unanimity minus one should now be applied in Ukraine. But at the very least, this conversation should be opened.


OSCE


Russia


UkraineAlert

Jul 19, 2018

Are the EU and NATO Serious about Bringing Peace to Ukraine? You Wouldn’t Know It from Their Language.

By
Roman Sohn and Ariana Gic

Two events that took place in Brussels this month—the NATO summit and the EU-Ukraine summit—have once again brought attention to the Western position on Russia’s unlawful war on Ukraine. Although very supportive of Ukraine, the final declarations of both summits fail to use clear language recognizing Russia’s responsibility for its ongoing multi-vector war on Ukraine.


Russia


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jul 19, 2018

Q&A: What Should Trump Read? A Remedial Russia Reading List

By
Melinda Haring

On July 16, as US President Donald Trump met with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Trump revealed just how little he knows about modern Russia or its leader. While US intelligence agencies have said the Russians interfered in the 2016 presidential election, Trump shocked the world by siding with Putin, who denied everything. “I don’t see […]


Russia


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jul 18, 2018

Not a Good Day for Ukraine

By
Josh Cohen

Ukraine tries to project a proud image of a Western country with enormous potential held back by Russia, which is absolutely true, but it’s also true that it often holds itself back.    Take yesterday as an example. It was not a good day for Ukraine. A peaceful demonstration in Kyiv meant to highlight the […]


Russia


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jul 17, 2018

“You Can’t Get Away with Something Like This,” Families of MH17 Victims Remind Russia

By
Michael Bociurkiw

“It is very sad and it doesn’t get easier with each passing year…the roll call of the 298 names just leaves you speechless. But we will continue to fight, because you can’t get away with something like this.”


Politics & Diplomacy


Russia

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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