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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

Oct 31, 2019

Mariupol forum puts eastern Ukraine on investors’ maps

By
Andy Hunder

Zelenskyy and his team delivered a clear and concise message in Mariupol: they are committed to their people in eastern Ukraine.


Economy & Business


Macroeconomics


UkraineAlert

Oct 30, 2019

What are Ukrainians willing to compromise for peace?

By
Maria Zolkina

A strong demand for peace and the direct impact of the conflict do not make those who live in the government-controlled areas of the Donbas sympathetic to the most painful compromises.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Oct 29, 2019

This should be Zelenskyy’s next big push

By
Sergii Bondarchuk

Ukraine now has a chance to take the radical steps needed to re-build the SBU and establish a genuine security service under firm democratic control.


Corruption


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Oct 28, 2019

Assessing Zelenskyy’s first six months

By
Oleksiy Goncharenko

In general, it seems that Zelenskyy believes all complex issues have simple solutions.


Democratic Transitions


Political Reform


UkraineAlert

Oct 24, 2019

Ukraine’s new parliament is moving fast but is it getting anywhere?

By
Melinda Haring

Ukraine’s new parliament has been in session for more than fifty days and it’s been operating at a frantic pace, so we’ve culled together a list of the best and worst based on conversations with MPs, judges, attorneys, economists, and other experts.


Civil Society


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Oct 24, 2019

Is Ukraine’s new judicial reform a step forward?

By
Olena Halushka and Halyna Chyzhyk

Ukraine’s new judicial reform is not ideal but urgent and long-awaited.


Civil Society


Corruption


UkraineAlert

Oct 22, 2019

The real cost of Russian gas

By
Evgeniia Chirikova

As a result of the Nord Stream 2 project, Europeans will get more climate-friendly gas and Russians will choke on coal dust.


Geopolitics & Energy Security


Oil and Gas


UkraineAlert

Oct 22, 2019

Is Europe giving up on Ukraine?

By
Mark Temnycky

Some European leaders seem to want a new approach with Ukraine.


Political Reform


UkraineAlert

Oct 21, 2019

Invisible in an invisible war

By
Lauren Van Metre and Steven Steiner

Despite the nod to the critical role women play in the war with Russia, representatives of the Ukraine Women’s Veterans Movement note that discrimination has increased.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Oct 21, 2019

Kyiv not Kiev: Why spelling matters in Ukraine’s quest for an independent identity

By
Peter Dickinson

A number of global heavyweights have recently adopted the Ukrainian-language derived “Kyiv” as their official spelling for the country’s capital city, replacing the Russian-rooted “Kiev.”


Democratic Transitions


Political Reform

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Content

UkraineAlert

Jan 26, 2018

Lethal Weapons to Ukraine: A Primer

By Peter J. Marzalik and Aric Toler

On December 22, 2017, the Trump administration approved supplying Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, capping a nearly three-year debate in Washington over whether the United States should provide lethal defensive weapons to counter further Russian aggression in Europe. A few days prior the US Department of State announced that senior officials had authorized a sizeable […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 25, 2018

Will the Kremlin’s Most Important Ally in Europe Be Reelected?

By Veronika Víchová, Markéta Krejčí, and Klára Veverka

One day remains until the second round of the Czech presidential election, and polls show a tie with 10 percent of voters undecided. The race pits the current president, Miloš Zeman, against the former chairman of the Academy of Sciences, Jiří Drahoš. New reports allege that there’s a hidden scheme to support pro-Russian president Zeman—at […]

Central Europe Russia

UkraineAlert

Jan 24, 2018

What Lavrov’s Lies Mean for Ukraine

By Stephen Blank

Voltaire reportedly said that those who can persuade one to believe absurdities will lead one to commit atrocities. In contemporary politics Russia’s stance on Ukraine represents a cardinal example of the enduring validity of his remark. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently restated three lies: there are no Russian troops in the Donbas, the conflict […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 22, 2018

Russia Cannot Acknowledge MH17 Role without Exposing Secret Ukraine War

By Peter Dickinson

The shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine on July 17, 2014, transformed a localized post-Soviet conflict into a major global crisis. With victims from eleven different countries including 189 Dutch citizens, the international backlash was prompt and marked a clear escalation in the confrontation between Russia and the West over the war […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 22, 2018

Justice Deferred but Not Yet Denied

By Mykhailo Zhernakov

2017 was a pivotal year in Ukraine, but not the way we expected. We were supposed to get a brand new Supreme Court to replace four old cassation courts that were synonymous with corruption and abuse. Instead, it was new only on paper.

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 22, 2018

Ukraine: Where Watchdogs Need Safeguards

By Luke Drabyn and Samantha Feinstein

It is ironic but fitting that in Ukraine, the agency tasked with protecting whistleblowers has instead fostered so much corruption that its own employees, after speaking out, have become victims of retaliation. In mid-November, Hanna Solomatina, the former head of the financial control department within the National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NACP), alleged that she […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 22, 2018

When Will We See a Breakthrough in Ukraine?

By Pavlo Sheremeta

When asked what the exchange rate will be in 2018, I answer a question with a question: when will elections in Ukraine take place? A definite answer  is hard to come by in our country. Only one thing is certain: the fight in Ukraine will continue. Anders Åslund, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 18, 2018

Ukraine’s Making Real Progress in the Energy Sector

By Olga Bielkova

Energy independence is a question of national security for Ukraine, and one that we worked on assiduously in 2017. Most observers know that Naftogaz emerged victorious in an $80 billion arbitration case in Stockholm, but that’s only part of the story. Here are the big five milestones that really mattered for the energy sector last […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 18, 2018

Why Russia’s Soft Power Is Here to Stay (At Least for Now)

By Matthew Finkel

Hydrocarbon exports remain the centerpiece of Russia’s national revival strategy, despite the negative impact of developmental and investment setbacks, OPEC price dumping in traditional Russian export markets, Western sanctions, and a growing push toward energy independence in Eastern Europe. Russia continues to suffer from many of the classic symptoms of Dutch disease: a number of […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 18, 2018

Why Poroshenko’s Anti-Corruption Court Is a Sham Proposal

By Anastasia Krasnosilska

Ukrainians want corrupt public officials to go to jail. It didn’t happen in 2014, 2015, 2016, or 2017. In July, a Kyiv court released Roman Tymkiv, the head of a state-owned military plant, on bail. Tymkiv was accused of embezzling $1 million by supplying the Ukrainian army with used tank engines for the price of […]

Ukraine