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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 14, 2020

Zelenskyy puts Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution on trial

By
Adrian Karatnycky

Criminal charges against prominent Ukrainian activist Tetyana Chornovol represent a watershed moment in the country’s modern history that risks putting Ukraine’s entire Maidan Revolution on trial.

Democratic Transitions
Rule of Law


UkraineAlert

Apr 13, 2020

Why appeasing Putin in Ukraine won’t work

By
Paul D’Anieri

Western leaders are eager for a deal to end the undeclared war between Russia and Ukraine, but any attempt to appease Putin risks encouraging further imperial aggression, writes Paul D’Anieri.

Conflict
Politics & Diplomacy


UkraineAlert

Apr 13, 2020

Does Zelenskyy’s Ukraine still want to join NATO?

By
Tetiana Gaiduk

Since the onset of Russian aggression in 2014, Ukraine has pursued closer ties with NATO. However, recent changes at the Ministry of Defense have raised concerns over Ukraine’s continued commitment to NATO integration.

NATO
NATO Partnerships


UkraineAlert

Apr 10, 2020

Breadbasket Ukraine must not prohibit grain exports

By
Anders Åslund

Ukrainian policymakers are reportedly discussing the prohibition of grain exports. This could have a disastrous impact on the economy while also damaging ties with Ukraine’s international partners.

International Financial Institutions
Trade and tariffs


UkraineAlert

Apr 8, 2020

Beyond east versus west: Ukraine must go global

By
Viktor Karvatskyy

The coronavirus crisis is a globally disruptive event that gives Ukraine an opportunity to rethink the country’s geopolitical trajectory and move beyond the traditional foreign policy of east versus west.

Politics & Diplomacy
Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 8, 2020

Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine is a ticking coronavirus time bomb

By
Mark Temnycky

With poor medical facilities, limited quarantine measures, and a large pension-age population, Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine has the potential to become a major coronavirus hotspot.

Coronavirus
Russia


UkraineAlert

Apr 8, 2020

Ukraine lacks leadership as coronavirus crisis escalates

By
Volodymyr Dubovyk

Ukraine is ill-prepared for a major coronavirus outbreak but the country has wasted precious weeks engaging in political drama as the scale of the pandemic threat become increasingly apparent.

Coronavirus
Political Reform


UkraineAlert

Apr 6, 2020

Коронавірусна криза відкриває можливість закінчити війну в Україні

By
Уільям Б. Тейлор, Стівен Пайфер & Джон Хербст

Цю статтю було вперше опубліковано на NPR Усі три автори є колишніми послами США в Україні. Уільям Б. Тейлор є віце-президентом з питань стратегічної стабільності та безпеки в Американському інституті миру (United States Institute of Peace). Стівен Пайфер є старшим науковим співробітником програми ім. Уільяма Перрі в Стенфордському університеті. Джон Хербст є директором Євразійського центру […]

Conflict
Coronavirus


UkraineAlert

Apr 6, 2020

Коронавирусный кризис открывает возможность закончить войну в Украине

By
Уильям Б. Тейлор, Стивен Пайфер & Джон Хербст

Эта статья впервые была опубликована на NPR Все три автора — бывшие послы США в Украине. Уильям Б. Тейлор — вице-президент по вопросам стратегической стабильности и безопасности в Американском институте мира (United States Institute of Peace). Стивен Пайфер — старший научный сотрудник программы им. Уильяма Перри в Стэнфордском университете. Джон Хербст — директор Евразийского центра “Атлантического совета”. На фоне […]

Conflict
Coronavirus


UkraineAlert

Apr 4, 2020

Ukraine adds political drama to coronavirus crisis

By
Brian Mefford

Ukraine experienced a month of political turbulence in March 2020 as the country grappled with cabinet reshuffles amid an escalating coronavirus crisis. Who emerged as the political winners and losers?

Coronavirus
Democratic Transitions

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.

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Content

UkraineAlert

Jul 5, 2017

Positive Change Is Not Happening in Ukraine’s Courts

By Josh Cohen

In his recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, “Positive Change Is Happening in Ukraine,” Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman’s glosses over the real driver of a business-friendly climate: the courts. He fails to mention the courts, judicial reform, or the process to rebuild the Supreme Court, a process which is being sabotaged. Ukraine’s judiciary is riven with […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 3, 2017

US Trade Actions Threaten Ukraine and Strengthen Russia

By Daniel Valk

As President Donald Trump prepares for his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week at the G-20 in Hamburg, Germany, the US Department of Commerce is making two important trade decisions that threaten the economic and geopolitical stability of Ukraine. In 2014, as Ukraine was reeling from the annexation of Crimea, and as […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 3, 2017

War in Ukraine Was Years in the Making

By Vera Zimmerman

Ukraine is the only country in the world that has ongoing experience with a hybrid war—a simultaneous and adaptive military strategy that blends conventional and non-conventional means. As a result, it offers valuable lessons that could help the West better understand emerging threats. In the last three years, Ukraine has found itself drawn into the […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 30, 2017

Ukraine’s Trashy Politics

By Diane Francis

Lviv is Ukraine’s most beautiful city, an exquisite UNESCO World Heritage site that has survived attacks and changed hands for seven centuries. The city is a successful IT hub and its hotels, restaurants, and architecture attract 2.5 million visitors a year. Since 2006, its reform-minded mayor and city council have upgraded infrastructure and enticed industry […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 29, 2017

War in Ukraine 2.0

By Melinda Haring

Russia is targeting the most capable and dedicated parts of the Ukrainian military. On June 27, Colonel Maksim Shapoval, commander of an elite Ukrainian military intelligence unit, was killed when his car exploded during his morning commute in downtown Kyiv. A few hours later, a massive cyberattack took out computer systems across the city. The […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 28, 2017

Ukraine’s Least Sexy Reform Is Transforming Villages with New Roads, Police, and Even a Telescope

By Ruslan Minich

It used to be dark, and children had to jump from stone to stone to get to school. Now, the roads are smooth and brightly lit. Water flows from the mountains by gravity, and thus is free of charge and available to everyone. This is what the residents of southwestern Ukraine’s Poliana village say decentralization […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 26, 2017

What Happens if Russia Turns Up the Heat Again in Ukraine?

By Andreas Umland

Will the low-intensity war in the Donbas continue its current course in the coming years, or will Moscow turn up the heat there, as it occasionally does? It’s hard to say. “It all comes down to geopolitics and what Putin wants to do,” said Ihor Kozak, an independent Canadian defense and security expert who visited […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 26, 2017

How History Will Remember Vladimir Putin

By Stephen Blank

To paraphrase Pravda in 1929, Putin is the Stalin of today. Nobody since Stalin’s death has achieved such longevity or uncontested power over Russia as Putin has. Nevertheless, tomorrow he may be remembered as the Brezhnev of today, for he has presided over a galloping stagnation of the economy and public morality. At the same […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 26, 2017

In Ukraine, Health Security Is National Security

By Olena Kucheruk and Alex T. Johnson

Three years after its invasion of Ukraine, Russia continues to pummel the country with cyberattacks, ruthless propaganda, and Grad missiles. But Ukraine’s dysfunctional institutions, especially its health care system, undermine Ukraine’s national security as well. Policies to reduce the enormous stress on Ukraine’s military and government alone ignore the delivery of core services. Without those […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 23, 2017

Memo to President Trump: It’s Not “The Ukraine” Anymore

By Peter Dickinson

The first meeting between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and US President Donald Trump on June 20 was widely hailed as a small but significant victory for Ukraine, signaling continued American support at a time when many fear Ukraine’s struggle with Russia is in danger of becoming a forgotten war. The only fly in the ointment […]

Russia
Ukraine