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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

Sep 9, 2021

Odesa’s unique place in Ukraine’s cultural evolution

By
Andrew D’Anieri

Ukrainian Black Sea port city Odesa occupies a unique place in the country's cultural evolution thanks to its unrivaled international pedigree and the limitless creative ambitions of the local cultural community.


Civil Society


Resilience & Society


UkraineAlert

Sep 9, 2021

Why Ukraine must join NATO

By
Adrian Hoefer

Given the Kremlin's hostile revisionism, Ukraine's membership in NATO is in the long-term interest of the US and its allies. As Moscow expands its hybrid war on the West, Ukraine is an asset.


Eastern Europe


International Organizations


UkraineAlert

Sep 9, 2021

Navigating the geopolitical battlefield of Ukrainian history

By
Serhii Plokhy

Prominent Ukrainian historian Serhii Plokhy's latest essay collection seeks to demonstrate how the country's evolving sense of national history is central to Ukraine’s current war with Russia and its relations with the West.


Resilience & Society


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Sep 7, 2021

Could Vladimir Putin repeat his Crimean conquest in southwestern Ukraine?

By
Michael Druckman

The Bessarabia region in southwestern Ukraine shares many of the same characteristics that helped facilitate the 2014 Kremlin takeover of Crimea and should be a national security priority for the Ukrainian authorities.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Sep 7, 2021

Ukraine’s digital revolution is gaining momentum

By
Mykhailo Fedorov

September marks the second anniversary of Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation. The Ministry can report significant progress in turning President Zelenskyy's dreams of a digital revolution into reality.


Digital Policy


Internet


UkraineAlert

Sep 5, 2021

US anti-corruption crusade should focus on Europe’s east

By
Janusz Bugajski

By making the fight against corruption a key US foreign policy priority, President Biden can counter the Kremlin's efforts to gain influence throughout Central and Eastern Europe via the exploitation of corruption.


Central Europe


Corruption


UkraineAlert

Sep 2, 2021

Biden and Zelenskyy get US-Ukraine ties back on track

By
Peter Dickinson

US President Joe Biden hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on September 1 for a meeting that sought to reaffirm America’s unwavering commitment to Ukrainian sovereignty.


Democratic Transitions


Politics & Diplomacy


UkraineAlert

Sep 1, 2021

Young Ukrainians must not remain hostages to the country’s totalitarian trauma

By
Sonya Rashkovan

Modern Ukraine remains haunted by the legacy of the country's deeply troubled history, but the emerging generation of young Ukrainians must move beyond this totalitarian trauma in order to build a better future, argues 16-year-old student activist Sonya Rashkovan.


Democratic Transitions


Resilience & Society


UkraineAlert

Aug 31, 2021

Could Snake Island be the next hot spot in Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine war?

By
Andrew D’Anieri, Doug Klain

Vladimir Putin's hybrid war against Ukraine is now in its eighth year and shows no signs of ending. Many expect the next escalation to come in the Black Sea, with Ukraine's Snake Island a potentially attractive target.


Conflict


Maritime Security


UkraineAlert

Aug 30, 2021

What unites Ukrainians?

By
Arena

As Ukraine enters its fourth decade of statehood, new research based on more than 20 focus groups held across the country offers fascinating insights into the issues and experiences that unite Ukrainians.


Democratic Transitions


Resilience & Society

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

Feb 20, 2018

Ukraine’s Had Revolutions, But Where Is the Real Evolution?

By Ruslan Minich

In the last three decades, Ukraine has experienced three dramatic changes that have often been referred to as revolutions. But were they genuinely revolutionary?

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 20, 2018

Putin as Far as the Eye Can See, And Then What?

By Leonid Gozman

The Russian presidential election will take place on March 18. The outcome of the election is obvious: Vladimir Putin will keep his seat. However, although the name of the president won’t change, the country will. March 18 won’t just mark the end of the election campaign. It will also launch Putin’s last term, which will […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

Feb 19, 2018

Four Years after the Maidan, How Is the Investigation Going?

By Tetyana Ogarkova

On February 18, 2014, the most tragic part of the Revolution of Dignity started; more than one hundred people were killed, several dozens went missing, and over a thousand were wounded in Kyiv on February 18-20. Yevhenia Zakrevska, the leading lawyer of the so-called Heavenly Hundred families who lost loved ones on the Maidan during […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 15, 2018

We’re All In! Ukraine Moving Forward on Women’s Participation

By Lauren Van Metre

Women’s rights have made major strides in Ukraine since 2014. In particular, elevating the coordination of the government’s gender equality policies to the office of the Vice Prime Minister for EU and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, has led to real breakthroughs.

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 14, 2018

Forget East-West and Language Divide. Politicians May Exploit New Wedge Issues in Ukraine’s Elections

By Ruslan Minich

Ukraine has decisively moved toward the West. Previously pulled between East and West, Ukrainians are now more united on key issues that had previously rankled the country for decades. More Ukrainians want educational instruction in Ukrainian, greater numbers prefer EU and NATO membership, and support for democracy far outstrips support for a strongman. At the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 14, 2018

How to Waste Western Military Assistance

By Olena Prokopenko

In late 2017, Ukraine failed to receive assistance that was expected from two of its largest donors, the IMF and the EU. The anticipated funding—over $2.5 billion—was strictly conditioned on specific reforms. Both donors referred to the country’s lack of compliance with its obligations in the anticorruption and economic areas. In response, the Ukrainian government […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 12, 2018

Is This the End of Mikheil Saakashvili in Ukraine?

By Melinda Haring

Today opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili was deported to Poland. For months he has been leading protests outside of Ukraine’s parliament, urging President Petro Poroshenko to resign. The Saakashvili drama has been ongoing; last year he was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship and then reentered the country illegally. In December, he was arrested and then broke […]

The Caucasus Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 9, 2018

What Do Ukraine, Congo, Cuba, North Korea, Tajikistan, and Venezuela Have in Common?

By Maxim Martynyuk

Since 2014, when a democratic revolution triumphed in Ukraine, there have been two kinds of reports coming from my country: those about Ukrainians’ heroic resistance against Russian aggression, and those about the corruption that is destroying the country. The truth, of course, is more nuanced and mundane: Ukraine is gradually advancing, sometimes with two steps […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 7, 2018

The View from Inside a Donetsk Prison

By Matthew Kupfer

When Russian-led separatists seized control of Donetsk in 2014, Ihor Kozlovsky did what many residents of the city were doing: he stayed put. But unlike others, Kozlovsky was not a supporter of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DNR). In fact, he was a Ukrainian patriot, a professor and world-renowned expert of comparative religion at Donetsk […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 7, 2018

Why Election Reform Should Be a Top Priority Now

By Andrew Fink

Election reform in Ukraine is finally gaining some momentum. In December, parliament passed in the first reading draft law #3112-1, which creates an open list proportional election system and makes it easier for small parties to win seats in parliament. In addition, the president’s long-awaited list of candidates for the Central Election Commission has finally […]

Ukraine