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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 15, 2021

Ukraine’s top soccer stars join the country’s Ukrainian language renaissance

By
David Kirichenko

Ukraine's national football team captain Andriy Yarmolenko recently conducted a press conference in Ukrainian, marking the latest small step forward in what is a wider renaissance of the Ukrainian language.


Resilience & Society


Ukraine


BelarusAlert

Sep 14, 2021

Belarus dictator poses growing threat to Ukraine

By
Lisa Yasko

Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka's growing dependence on the Kremlin is allowing Vladimir Putin to expand his military presence in Belarus and creating a new front in Russia's hybrid war against Ukraine.


Belarus


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Sep 14, 2021

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy vows to fight for judicial reform

By
Halyna Chyzhyk

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called an extraordinary meeting of politicians, diplomats, and members of the judiciary in order to prevent his flagship judicial reform drive from being sabotaged and derailed.


Corruption


Democratic Transitions


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

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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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Content

UkraineAlert

Apr 24, 2017

Russia’s Desperation for More Soldiers Is Taking It to Dark Places

By Valentyn Badrak, Lada Roslycky, Mykhailo Samus, and Volodymyr Kopchak

Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine and intensive military operations in Syria have caused a very big problem: a shortage of qualified people to man its occupation forces. This personnel gap, caused by permanent, heavy losses suffered by Russia’s forces, has drastically changed the scale and character of its military missions. At the early stages of […]

Russia Syria

UkraineAlert

Apr 24, 2017

More Solidarity with Ukraine Needed, Say Speakers at the Kyiv Security Forum

By Ariel Cohen

The Tenth Kyiv Security Forum—an important foreign affairs conference conducted annually by the Open Ukraine Foundation—occurred on April 6-7. Headed by Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and his wife Terezia, the conference underscored an important message: the need for the West to stay engaged and maintain security in the borderlands between Russia and Central […]

Belarus Moldova

UkraineAlert

Apr 20, 2017

Who’s Been Monkeying with Ukraine’s Judicial Reforms Again?

By Mykhailo Zhernakov

Ukraine is building its new Supreme Court from scratch–a bold move as a part of its comprehensive judicial reform. Candidates who are running for the Supreme Court have undergone a series of tests, but still must pass a final interview. All along, this process offered great hope for dramatic change in Ukraine’s judiciary, but it […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 19, 2017

The Right Land Reform Could Transform Ukraine Now

By Aivaras Abromavičius and Alexey Mushak

Largely in response to the IMF’s condition for further aid, Ukraine is on the verge of launching land reform, possibly its most dramatic and important reform to date. The land reform concept that Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman has proposed, however, is unlikely to gain support from either the agricultural sector or from parliament. Due to […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 18, 2017

Why We Continue to Misunderstand Putin’s War in Ukraine

By Taras Kuzio

The Euromaidan and Russia’s annexation of Crimea have turned Ukraine into a popular media topic. But Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine has also led to a giant surge in academic and think tank publications about Ukraine, with more than three hundred published since 2014. These scholarly and expert analyses have taken five main […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 17, 2017

Meet Ulana Suprun: Ukraine’s Top Doctor Takes on Tax Chief and Corrupt System

By Diane Francis

In March, Ukraine’s reformers applauded when the National Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested Roman Nasirov, the country’s chief tax and customs official, on embezzlement charges. But he claimed he was having a heart attack, called an ambulance, and was diagnosed as too ill to be taken to court. Such tricks might have worked before, but this time […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 17, 2017

Why Investors Are Giving Ukraine a Second Chance

By Daniel Bilak

Ukraine today is open and transparent, but foreign investors are often taken aback by its challenges. While corruption and property rights are issues, any objective assessment must recognize the monumental strides the country has taken on these issues. After three years of reforms, society is fatigued, and the mood is pessimistic. The current media narrative—that […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 17, 2017

New Poll Shows Ukrainians Hungry for Change

By Oksana Bedratenko and Katie LaRoque

A new poll shows that Ukrainians are hungry for change and finally seeing it at the local level. On April 10, the International Republican Institute (IRI) released its annual municipal survey, tracking the views of more than 19,000 Ukrainians in twenty-four cities. Three years since IRI’s first survey, residents in fifteen of the twenty-four cities […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 12, 2017

Secretary Tillerson, Here’s Why Taxpayers Should Care about Ukraine

By Melinda Haring

At the Group of Seven meeting in Lucca, Italy, on April 11, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asked the other foreign ministers, “Why should US taxpayers be interested in Ukraine?” US Senator Rob Portman and several other panelists answered that question at an April 5 conference on Ukraine in Washington, DC, sponsored by the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 11, 2017

Is Belarus coming unglued too?

By Francišak Viačorka

The Russian crackdown showed that the country’s internal problems are getting sharper, and the Kremlin will likely not have enough resources to continue its financial support of Lukashenka’s regime.

Belarus Russia