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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 17, 2019

The seasoning of President Zelenskyy

By
Bohdan Nahaylo

It appears that the well-meaning, if initially inexperienced and idealistic, Zelenskyy, unconventional and not entirely predictable, has been forced to learn this through the school of hard knocks.


Crisis Management


Elections


UkraineAlert

Oct 16, 2019

Servant of the people or servant of the oligarchs?

By
Diane Francis

The president’s response is appropriate in a country with an operating rule of law. But in Ukraine, with an unreformed judiciary, this is a complete cop out.


Financial Regulation


Fiscal and Structural Reform


UkraineAlert

Oct 11, 2019

Seven takeaways from Zelenskyy’s marathon press conference (and one surprise) 

By
Iryna Matviyishyn

At the press conference, Zelenskyy said he was ready to “sit down and talk” with Kolomoisky.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Oct 11, 2019

Ukraine’s $50 billion challenge

By
Andy Hunder

The key concerns from business are not new. The rule of law, fair justice, macroeconomic stability, a predictable tax policy, secure investment, and property rights, including intellectual property rights, top their lists.


Fiscal and Structural Reform


International Financial Institutions


UkraineAlert

Oct 9, 2019

Real talk on Kyiv’s talks with Moscow

By
Diane Francis

Ukraine must devise its bargaining position, and anticipate Russia’s, or it will be devoured in upcoming talks, left to the mercy of Putin as well as of France and Germany, both co-opted by Putin.


Conflict


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Oct 9, 2019

Mission possible

By
Basil Kalymon

The government wants to liberalize the economy and proceed with radical and swift changes.


Corruption


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Oct 9, 2019

Ukraine’s most vulnerable children deserve a passport, too

By
Anna Babko

In the non-government controlled territories of Ukraine, 57 percent of children were born without proper birth registration by the Ukrainian authorities and may be unable to qualify for a Ukrainian passport at age 14.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Oct 8, 2019

Did Zelenskyy give in to Moscow? We don’t know yet

By
Steven Pifer

Angry crowds took to the streets to denounce the Steinmeier Formula, equating it with capitulation to Moscow. But is it? At this point, not enough is known about details of the agreement—or even if the agreement will hold—to reach a judgment.


Conflict


Elections


UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2019

Coming into her own

By
Melinda Haring

“What I’m seeing now is speed over professionalism,” Suprun said. “I think it’s about time Ukraine started being more mature about what it’s doing.”


Civil Society


Media


UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2019

That other Ukraine controversy that just won’t go away

By
Oleksiy Goncharenko

Ukraine stands between two conflict resolution formulas: to freeze the Donbas or to try and integrate it.


Conflict


Crisis Management

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Content

UkraineAlert

Jul 26, 2017

How to Hold Facebook and Google Responsible for Fake News

By Klára Votavová and Jakub Janda

Online platforms have become the world’s most influential editors-in-chief. According to a 2016 Reuters Digital News Report, 51 percent of people access online news through social media, allowing these platforms to curate their news intake through personalized algorithms. These platforms have simultaneously gained significant economic leverage: experts estimate that in 2016, the two most influential […]

UkraineAlert

Jul 24, 2017

Why the US Keeps Losing the Fight against Disinformation

By Maxim Eristavi

Journalists and activists in Eastern Europe have been fighting modern propaganda for years. It is time to deploy the lessons of those battles to newsrooms in Washington and beyond. I’ve been exposing organized lies professionally for years now. It started when propaganda took over the Russian-state newsroom in Moscow I was managing in 2013. When […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 24, 2017

Let’s Make America Great Again by Making Washington Transparent

By Ariel Cohen

The testimonies of Donald Trump, Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort before Congressional investigational committees will be closed to public. Yet they are the highlights of a political crisis that may be deeper than Watergate. In a made-for-TV series, the intrigue connects Washington power politics and espionage with a family saga, and for some comic […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 24, 2017

Rebuttal: Ukraine’s Supreme Court Competition Is a Model Process

By Sergii Koziakov

The resetting of Ukraine’s highest court is one of the cornerstones of judicial reform in the country and will influence the whole judicial system. In his recent article, Josh Cohen claims that Ukraine’s High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ) is impeding the process to build a new Supreme Court, but this is simply false. The […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 20, 2017

Why Congress Should Pass the Russia Sanctions Bill

By Polina Kovaleva

Over the weekend, Congress reached an agreement on a new Russia sanctions package, though it has been overshadowed by the investigation into connections between President Donald Trump’s administration and Russia. Although the Senate easily passed a strong sanctions bill in June to punish Russia for its aggression in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, the White House […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 19, 2017

The Only Winning Strategy for Ukraine

By Diane Francis

Imagine if, on June 14, Ukraine launched its first independent anti-corruption court and began hearing dozens of cases against people in high places. Imagine if, by mid-July, several oligarchs and public officials were convicted of corruption, and their assets confiscated. Unfortunately, neither are true. A June 14 deadline for the court imposed by the IMF […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 18, 2017

Kadyrov Flaunts Chechnya’s de Facto Independence

By Dylan Myles-Primakoff

The July 18 episode of HBO’s “Real Sports” features a surprising interview subject—Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Russia’s Chechen Republic, in his first interview with a Western journalist since 2014. While the interview’s main theme is Kadyrov’s use of mixed martial arts as a political instrument, an excerpt released before the episode aired focused on […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

Jul 18, 2017

MH17 Plane Crash: Completing a Circle after Three Years

By Michael Bociurkiw

The first relative of one of the passengers of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 that I ever met was Jordan Withers. Thanks to the BBC, we were brought together for the making of a documentary into one of the worst civil aviation disasters in modern history. That disaster was the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 17, 2017

Twelve Myths about Change in Ukraine

By Alexander J. Motyl

Most Ukrainians will tell you that “nothing has changed” since the Euromaidan Revolution. Meanwhile, most Ukrainian analysts bemoan that Ukraine’s elites are resisting change and that, unless Ukraine changes more quickly, the country will backtrack and be lost. And everyone seems to agree that no change is possible unless corruption is fully eliminated. These views […]

France Germany

UkraineAlert

Jul 14, 2017

Poland’s Revolutionary Lessons for Ukraine

By Krzysztof Stanowski

In the last thirty years, Ukraine has undergone three revolutions: the Revolution on Granite (1990), the Orange Revolution (2004-2005), and the Revolution of Dignity (2013-2014)—each about different values. The first one was about the right to independence, the second about fair elections, and the third about the right to choose the country’s geopolitical direction. For […]

Poland Ukraine