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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

Mar 2, 2021

Ukrainian parliament finally moves to end multi-voting

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine scored a small but significant victory in the battle against political corruption on March 2 with the launch of a new voting system in the country’s parliament that should put an end to the practice of MPs voting on behalf of absent colleagues.


Corruption


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Mar 1, 2021

Getting Ukraine’s security service reform right

By
Oleksandra Ustinova and Steven Pifer

Ukrainian MPs are currently preparing a long-awaited bill to reform the country's security service. The initiative is encouraging but numerous measures are still required to distance Ukraine from the KGB past.


Democratic Transitions


Intelligence


UkraineAlert

Feb 26, 2021

Why Ukraine sanctioned Putin’s ally Medvedchuk

By
Andriy Yermak

Ukraine has introduced a number of measures during February 2021 to restrict the influence of Vladimir Putin's closest Ukrainian ally, Viktor Medvedchuk.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Feb 25, 2021

Russia’s collective punishment of the Crimean Tatars is a war crime

By
Wayne Jordash and Anna Mykytenko

As Ukraine seeks international justice over the Russian seizure and occupation of Crimea, Kyiv should consider holding the Kremlin to account for the collective punishment of the Crimean Tatars.


Conflict


Human Rights


UkraineAlert

Feb 25, 2021

Biden must freeze Putin’s pipeline and prevent this “bad deal for Europe”

By
Benjamin Schmitt

By taking steps to block the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, US President Joe Biden has a real opportunity to build a new transatlantic security consensus while revitalizing the US-German relationship.


Geopolitics & Energy Security


Germany


UkraineAlert

Feb 25, 2021

Ukrainians protest “political justice” over activist jailing

By
Solomiia Bobrovska

The jailing of a high-profile Ukrainian activist has sparked protests over fears that his conviction represents politicized justice and a victory for pro-Kremlin forces within the Ukrainian establishment.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Feb 23, 2021

Rethinking Yushchenko

By
Brian Mefford

Ukraine's third president, Viktor Yushchenko, came to power on a tide of history but left office in humbling circumstances after a single term. Is it now time to reevaluate the transformative effect of his presidency?


Democratic Transitions


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Feb 22, 2021

Ukraine’s booming IT sector defies the coronavirus crisis

By
Peter Dickinson

While businesses around the world are counting the cost of a year disrupted by the unprecedented challenges of the COVID crisis, Ukraine’s IT sector continues to go from strength to strength.


Coronavirus


Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Feb 20, 2021

Ukraine can play key role in Europe’s energy Green Deal

By
Aura Sabadus

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), World Bank, and EU have all argued that Ukraine could become a world leader in renewable production.


Energy Transitions


Geopolitics & Energy Security


UkraineAlert

Feb 18, 2021

Alexei Navalny is a Russian nationalist but he may still be good news for Ukraine

By
Andreas Umland

Many Ukrainians remain skeptical of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny due to his Russian nationalist past, but Navalny's impact on Russian politics may eventually prove beneficial for Ukraine.


Conflict


Democratic Transitions

spotlight

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

Jul 13, 2017

There He Goes Again. Putin Meddles in the South Caucasus

By Stephen Blank

Russia President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump likely agreed to restrict intervention in the affairs of third countries at the G-20 summit. This agreement, however, contradicts Russian foreign policy. In Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, Russia seeks to curtail the ability of these governments to pursue independent foreign policies. A series of recent probes […]

Russia The Caucasus

UkraineAlert

Jul 11, 2017

From the Revolution of Dignity to the Education of Dignity

By Volodymyr Turchynovskyy

I am convinced that the Revolution of Dignity has taught us a powerful lesson, one that is captured by the saying, “A free society is a moral achievement.” The same idea is profoundly elaborated on in Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks’ acceptance speech as the 2016 winner of the Templeton Prize. With these ideas in mind, […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 11, 2017

Ukraine Walks Back Disclosure Law on NGOs

By Melinda Haring

Two bills that would remove Ukraine’s controversial disclosure requirements for nongovernment organizations and replace them with more extensive reporting requirements were introduced in parliament on July 10. In an interview, Dmytro Shymkiv said bill 6674 and 6675 would make the public aware of how tax-exempt money is being spent “as it is done everywhere else […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 10, 2017

Dispelling Disinformation: Four Lessons from Ukraine

By Ellen Riina

“There are no Russian troops in Crimea. It’s a civil war in Ukraine. MH-17 was shot down from another plane. Ukraine is a failed state.” These are all false narratives that were created to undermine Ukraine’s response to Russian aggression and sow divisions between pro-Europe and pro-Russian populations in Ukraine, according to Myroslava Gongadze, the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 10, 2017

Ukraine’s Parliament Faces Moment of Truth

By William B. Taylor

This week Ukraine’s parliament will vote on sweeping health care reform. If passed, the reform will modernize the country’s Soviet-era health care system and bring it up to international standards. However, the bill is currently being held hostage to political partisanship, which works to the detriment of Ukraine’s national interests. If the bill fails, then […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 10, 2017

Trump Administration Is Serious about Ukraine After All

By Diane Francis

Kyiv had a very good week. On July 9, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced that sanctions against Russia will remain in place until the Kremlin takes the first step to ease tensions in eastern Ukraine. And on July 7, before US President Donald Trump and Russia President Vladimir Putin met for the first […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 5, 2017

Against All Odds, Ukraine’s Refugees Rebuild

By Diane Francis

The unfinished concrete block house outside Kyiv is home to twenty-three refugees who were evacuated from the war in Ukraine. They share one bathroom, one kitchen, one television, and sleep on bunkbeds on its second floor. Furnishings are makeshift, the house is dark, appliances are donated, and the stairs are rickety. Most are elderly, two […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 5, 2017

Positive Change Is Not Happening in Ukraine’s Courts

By Josh Cohen

In his recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, “Positive Change Is Happening in Ukraine,” Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman’s glosses over the real driver of a business-friendly climate: the courts. He fails to mention the courts, judicial reform, or the process to rebuild the Supreme Court, a process which is being sabotaged. Ukraine’s judiciary is riven with […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 3, 2017

US Trade Actions Threaten Ukraine and Strengthen Russia

By Daniel Valk

As President Donald Trump prepares for his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week at the G-20 in Hamburg, Germany, the US Department of Commerce is making two important trade decisions that threaten the economic and geopolitical stability of Ukraine. In 2014, as Ukraine was reeling from the annexation of Crimea, and as […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 3, 2017

War in Ukraine Was Years in the Making

By Vera Zimmerman

Ukraine is the only country in the world that has ongoing experience with a hybrid war—a simultaneous and adaptive military strategy that blends conventional and non-conventional means. As a result, it offers valuable lessons that could help the West better understand emerging threats. In the last three years, Ukraine has found itself drawn into the […]

Russia Ukraine