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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.


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Latest analysis


UkraineAlert

Apr 9, 2018

Why Expelling Russian Diplomats Isn’t Enough

By
Jakub Janda

So far, twenty-eight nations have sent home more than 140 Russian diplomats and spies in a coordinated response to the Russian nerve agent assassination attempt in Salisbury, England. Symbolically, this unprecedented expulsion of Russian officials constitutes an important show of unity, but its practical impact in terms of hindering Russian subversion operations is limited. With […]


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UkraineAlert

Apr 5, 2018

Nationalism Is on the Rise in Ukraine, and That’s a Good Thing

By
Ruslan Minich

The Euromaidan revolution and ongoing Russian aggression have united the nation like never before. People of various origins, both Russian and Ukrainian speakers, stood up to the pro-Russian regime of Viktor Yanukovych, and now they resist Russia’s efforts to reimpose influence over Ukraine. As a result, nationalism is a part of everyday life for the […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 5, 2018

Foam Butts, Black Labs, and Straight Jackets: Kyiv Activists Lampoon New Restrictions

By
Josh Cohen

It’s clear that Ukraine’s officials and oligarchs are not fans of the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC). Founded by Daria Kaleniuk and Vitaliy Shabunin—two of Ukraine’s leading anti-corruption activists—AntAC has been civil society’s tip of the spear in its ongoing efforts to end the impunity politicians took for granted before the Euromaidan. AntAC and its team […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 3, 2018

Two Ways the West Enables Corruption in Ukraine

By
Taras Kuzio

Western pressure on Ukraine to fight corruption has never been greater. But the pressure has been one-sided and focused on Ukraine, which isn’t fair. The West bears some culpability, too. Ukrainians flee criminal prosecution and receive political asylum in the West, and they use Western banks to launder capital from Ukraine. It is time to […]


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UkraineAlert

Apr 3, 2018

Reluctant Russophobes: The Underwhelming International Response to Putin’s Hybrid War

By
Peter Dickinson

If Moscow is genuinely innocent of all the misdeeds attributed to it, why does it always seem to get the blame? The Kremlin attributes every new allegation to Russophobia. This excuse has proven ideally suited to the varied terrain of hybrid warfare, serving as a one-size-fits-all explanation for virtually any charge. Whether the claims relate […]


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UkraineAlert

Apr 2, 2018

Is Putin Getting Ready to Exit the Donbas?

By
Michael Bociurkiw

For the second time in less than a month, a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine was agreed to. The pause in shooting was to have gone into effect just after midnight Thursday, March 29. That’s not particularly unusual; many ceasefires have been declared since the conflict began in the spring of 2014. And like the others, […]


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UkraineAlert

Apr 2, 2018

Why Ukraine’s Major Achievement in Government Transparency May Fail

By
Olena Prokopenko

The launch of Ukraine’s e-declaration system—one of the world’s most advanced—remains among the country’s biggest post-Maidan achievements. It has been a groundbreaking step toward the transparency broadly supported by the country’s Western partners. Yet ever since its inception, electronic asset declarations for officials has been under continuous sabotage and has been attacked on a wide […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Mar 29, 2018

What’s Up with Nadiya Savchenko?

By
Vera Zimmerman

Ukrainians are still trying to digest the shocking news of an averted military-style coup plot led by war hero and parliamentarian Nadiya Savchenko. The story broke on March 8 when Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) apprehended Volodymyr Ruban as he was illegally crossing a checkpoint in a van loaded with heavy weapons. Ruban, a volunteer prisoner […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Mar 28, 2018

Ukraine’s Glaring National Security Gap that No One Has Heard Of

By
Anders Åslund

My article about Ukraine’s new electricity tariffs aroused quite a few interesting comments, which deserve responses. Since these comments are private and many from people in high positions, I shall not mention their names. The arguments circle around pricing, ownership, privatization, investment, and taxation. The natural start is ownership. No one favors state enterprises. They […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Mar 27, 2018

Good to Be King: Ukraine’s Fugitive Oligarch Blocks Reforms and Benefits from International Handouts While Under House Arrest

By
Oleksandr Kharchenko

Corruption is still a major challenge in Ukraine, and the energy sector is particularly vulnerable to illegal activity. But although it is tempting to view corruption as a problem indigenous to Ukraine, outside actors—sometimes tolerated or even supported by the government in Kyiv—play a leading role in perpetuating corruption inside Ukraine. A key illustration of […]


Ukraine

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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.

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UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2017

In Lviv, World-Class Learning Center Opens Where Soviets Wanted Drab Building

By Melinda Haring

On September 10, Ukrainian Catholic University opened a 64,874 square foot world-class library and educational center in Lviv, Ukraine. Ukrainian Catholic University, the first Catholic university in the former Soviet Union, strives to provide an open, progressive, and democratic learning environment for its students and the community. Canadian businessman and philanthropist James Temerty was the […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2017

What Manafort’s Indictment Means for the US and Ukraine

By Anders Åslund

The most surprising thing about the thirty-one-page indictment of Paul J. Manafort, Jr. and his business partner Richard W. Gates III by Special Counsel Robert Mueller is that it hardly contains anything that was not known to people who have observed Ukraine. Manafort was the all-dominant political advisor to former President Viktor Yanukovych from the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 30, 2017

How to End the War in Eastern Ukraine

By Alexander Vershbow

The recent US debate about Russia has focused mainly on Moscow’s disinformation, propaganda, and interference in our elections. But Russia’s aggression against Ukraine remains the original sin and the biggest threat. It’s not just Ukraine’s survival as an independent, democratic state that is on the line, but the future of an international order based on […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 26, 2017

The High Stakes of Ukraine’s Reform Struggle

By Stephen Blank

It is easy to despair about Ukraine ever reforming and becoming a normal European state. Nevertheless, such despair would be a mistaken response to the flood of stories depicting obstructions to reform—even if they are true. While anyone who has dealt with Ukraine in the last twenty-five years has experienced the frustrations of trying to […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 26, 2017

Ukraine Is Really Changing: A Business Can Register in Twenty Minutes or Less

By Victor Liakh and Olexiy Zelivyanskyi

It now takes only twenty minutes to register a business in Ukraine. Since March 2017, entrepreneurs have been able to open and close businesses through a new online portal that the Ministry of Justice and the State Agency for E-Governance are behind. The new service proved popular: in its first six months, it was used […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 24, 2017

Why Ukraine’s Next Revolution Won’t Be on the Streets

By Diane Francis

Deposed President Viktor Yanukovych and the Kremlin continue to create mayhem inside Ukraine but have lost the hearts and minds of most Ukrainians, said security expert Andriy Levus. “Confiscation of assets in the Donbas finances the military war for Yanukovych and Russia, and it’s a cover for smuggling, but only for another year or so,” […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 23, 2017

Will Austria’s New Government End Sanctions on Russia?

By Péter Krekó, Berhard Weidinger, Fabian Schmid, and Lóránt Győri

The far-right Austrian Freedom Party will likely become part of the next Austrian federal government following the October 15 parliamentary elections. For the first time since the introduction of sanctions on Russia in 2014, a member of a vehemently pro-Russian and anti-sanctions party would become a governmental force. Will this mean the end of the […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

Oct 23, 2017

Why Ukraine’s Week of Protests Quickly Fizzled

By Adrian Karatnycky

A week of protests on behalf of needed reforms in Ukraine have rapidly fizzled having made limited headway in pressing for legislative action while discrediting a segment of liberal reformers with its populist rhetoric and aggressive tactics. The protest outside parliament, which some organizers had expected would bring at least 10,000 to the streets, peaked […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2017

Ukrainians Are Protesting Again. Will It Amount to Anything?

By Melinda Haring

On October 19, several thousand protesters in Kyiv cheered as parliament passed a bill that will lift parliamentary immunity. It was not the only victory of the day; parliament approved major health care reform as well. This was the third day that thousands of Ukrainians have taken to the streets to demand that President Petro […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 18, 2017

Stanford Cultivates the Next Generation of Ukrainian Leaders

By Sasha Jason

Even within Ukraine’s embattled political sphere, a new generation of leaders is still inspiring change. Stanford University intends to harness this energy through its Ukrainian Emerging Leaders Program, a new program for mid-career professionals to study at Stanford for an academic year. Olexandr Starodubtsev, Oleksandra Matviichuk, and Dmytro Romanovych were inducted as the first members […]

Ukraine