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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

Jun 10, 2021

Can Shevchenko bring Euro 2020 glory to Ukraine?

By
Andrew Todos

The scandal over Ukraine’s Euro 2020 national football team shirt has energized the Ukrainian public at a time when the increasingly self-confident country is enjoying a prolonged period of nation-building progress.


Ukraine


BelarusAlert

Jun 9, 2021

Axis of autocrats: Belarus dictator Lukashenka backs Putin’s Ukraine war

By
Brian Whitmore

The axis of autocrats in Eastern Europe continues to solidify as Belarus dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka bends over backwards to please Moscow by showing his support for Russia's war against Ukraine.


Belarus


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jun 8, 2021

Ukrainians fear betrayal over Putin’s pipeline

By
Diane Francis

The prospect of NATO and US-Russia summits in mid-June is creating anxiety in Ukraine, which finds itself in the role of bystander despite the nation’s prominent position on the agendas for both meetings.


European Union


Geopolitics & Energy Security


UkraineAlert

Jun 8, 2021

Ukraine’s post-2014 public procurement progress is under threat

By
Max Nefyodov

An amendment adopted by the Ukrainian parliament on June 3 sets an awful precedent that could pave the way for further exemptions of major construction projects from Ukraine’s public procurement laws and regulations.


Corruption


Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Jun 7, 2021

Ukraine’s new football shirt leaves Russia furious

By
Peter Dickinson

Russia has reacted with fury to Ukraine's new national football team jersey featuring a map of Ukraine. Kremlin anger is focused on the inclusion of Crimea, which is internationally recognized as part of Ukraine but has been under Russian occupation since 2014.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jun 3, 2021

Ukraine’s energy future is tied to European integration

By
Olga Bielkova

Energy transformation is possible in Ukraine. In order to make this vision a reality, Ukrainians must first define it and commit to consistent implementation, election cycles notwithstanding.


Energy Markets & Governance


Energy Transitions


UkraineAlert

Jun 3, 2021

US vaccine diplomacy: Ukraine should be a priority

By
Geoffrey Berlin

With US President Joe Biden preparing to send 80 million Covid vaccine doses abroad, Ukraine is a strong candidate to become a priority beneficiary in this first wave of America’s “vaccine diplomacy.”


Coronavirus


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jun 1, 2021

Why Eurovision is Ukraine’s soft power secret weapon

By
Peter Dickinson

Since the dawn of Ukrainian independence in 1991, no single event has done as much to promote Brand Ukraine internationally or showcase the country’s creativity as the annual Eurovision Song Contest.


Resilience & Society


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jun 1, 2021

Ending Ukraine’s memory wars

By
Peter Pomerantsev, Nataliya Gumenyuk, Maria Montague

Since 1991, Russia has sought to fuel memory wars as a way of preventing Ukraine from consolidating its statehood. However, recent research indicates that history can unite Ukrainians as well as dividing them.


Democratic Transitions


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jun 1, 2021

Biden-Putin summit: Ukraine should not expect miracles

By
Oleksiy Goncharenko

Ukraine is set to be high on the agenda when US President Joe Biden meets Russia's Vladimir Putin on June 16. However, few expect any breakthroughs towards ending the seven-year Russo-Ukrainian War.


Conflict


Politics & Diplomacy

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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

Nov 12, 2017

Why Putin Cannot Risk Peace in Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Imagine the scene: a patch of overgrown wasteland on the outskirts of an east Ukrainian rust belt town. Emergency services personnel are methodically excavating a large plot of earth while a huddle of journalists and aid workers look on. The date is October 2019. Another mass grave has just been uncovered. This grim but all-too-conceivable […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 9, 2017

Why There’s More to Alex Ovechkin’s Team Putin Movement than Meets the Eye

By Adrian Karatnycky

Hockey superstar Alex Ovechkin’s November 2 announcement that he is creating a social movement to support Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to be an ill-considered PR move by the Washington Capitals captain. In the capital of a country awash in anti-Putin sentiment, Ovechkin is defiantly flaunting his loyalty to a leader who has supported military […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 8, 2017

Unfreezing Eurasia’s Frozen Conflicts May Not Be as Hard as You Think

By Laura Linderman

It was nearly impossible to find an empty seat on the twice-weekly WizzAir flight from Berlin to Kutaisi this summer. The budget airline carries mostly German hikers to Georgia’s second largest city. From there, the hikers transfer in Zugdidi to reach their final destination, the remote and breathtaking Svaneti region, high in the Greater Caucasus. […]

The Caucasus Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 8, 2017

Why Russia’s War against Ukraine May Never End

By Kornely Kakachia and Joseph Larsen

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently requested a UN peacekeeping mission for eastern Ukraine. While at home this looks like a peace overture, Putin is not motivated by the desire for amity. The proposal is similar to Russian actions in Georgia prior to 2008, when it supported a UN observer mission in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone […]

Russia The Caucasus

UkraineAlert

Nov 8, 2017

Why Are Prestigious Institutions Sponsoring a Russian Propaganda Concert in Washington?

By Diane Francis

In April 2015, Ukrainian-born pianist Valentina Lisitsa was to perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. But the concert was abruptly canceled because she expressed, to her huge online following, hurtful anti-Ukrainian messages and support for pro-Russia separatists who had invaded and occupied eastern Ukraine. “As one of Canada’s most important […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 7, 2017

What the Odesa Port Saga Means for Reform in Ukraine

By Peter J. Marzalik

In an interview last October, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman revealed that not a single x-ray scanner was operational at customs checkpoints in Ukraine, suggesting that corrupt customs officers had deliberately damaged the equipment to facilitate criminal activity. The accusation speaks to the severity of entrenched corruption in the customs services of Ukraine, even amid […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 6, 2017

Q&A: How Can Ukraine Get a Better Grade on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index?

By Melinda Haring

Ukraine just received a marginally better grade on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index, moving from 80th place in 2017 to 76th place in 2018. Kyiv reduced the cost of construction permits, strengthened minority investor protections, and reduced labor taxes. To put things in perspective, it’s easier to do business in Azerbaijan, Belarus, […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 6, 2017

Why We Don’t Live Like Britain

By Sergey Fursa

Having admitted to a decade-old sexual harassment incident in which he touched a journalist’s knee at a party conference, British Defense Minister Michael Fallon resigned, stating, “I accept that in the past I have fallen below the high standards that we require of the Armed Forces that I have the honor to represent…I am therefore […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 2, 2017

Pragmatism Prevails over Populism in Ukraine

By Brian Mefford

Successful politics is about getting things done. By that standard, October was a successful month. Not only did the government pass sweeping healthcare reform, pension reform, and judiciary reform, it also staved off populist protests. In short, pragmatism prevailed over populism. Each of the reforms passed was significant, but healthcare reform was the most far-reaching. […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2017

Groisman Tells Investors that Shakedowns and Harassment Will End

By Diane Francis

Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman welcomes the creation of an independent anticorruption court in Ukraine and says it will be operating in 2018. “The debate was whether this court should be independent or a chamber. This was a waste of time,” he said in an extensive interview in Toronto. “From day one, I was in support […]

Russia Ukraine