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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 26, 2019

Explainer: Five things about the Ukraine controversy you need to know (plus a freebie)

By
Melinda Haring

Many of the names in the Ukraine controversy are new to general readers, so we attempt to answer a few basic questions. If you have others, please drop us a line on Twitter.


Democratic Transitions


Political Reform


UkraineAlert

Sep 26, 2019

Gontareva: “Too many have sacrificed and died to let oligarchs run the country again.”

By
Diane Francis

Support for the National Bank of Ukraine and Gontareva from the West has been overwhelming, but if Zelenskyy cannot take on Kolomoisky, then his landmark election and reform agenda will be added to the trash heap of failed Ukrainian presidents and support for the country will erode.


Civil Society


Corruption


UkraineAlert

Sep 24, 2019

What’s at stake with the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting

By
Paul Grod

Ukraine is at risk of coming to the negotiation table with a weak hand, unless the United States throws its full support behind it and encourages Europe to do the same.


Conflict


Political Reform


UkraineAlert

Sep 24, 2019

Culture wars, Odesa style

By
Konstantin Akinsha

Roytburd’s case is important for many reasons, but first, it unites politicians from different camps. He is supported by both top Poroshenko and Zelenskyy people.


Civil Society


Human Rights


UkraineAlert

Sep 23, 2019

The Kremlin is betting we will forget these names

By
Vitalii Rybak

The release of prisoners was a big win, but activists worry that those who remain behind will be forgotten.


Conflict


Crisis Management


UkraineAlert

Sep 23, 2019

Ukraine’s place in the geopolitical puzzle is shifting. That was the point.

By
Maksym Panchenko

We don’t know what Zelenskyy gave up to get the prisoners back, but it probably wasn’t small. Ukrainian detainees have been one of Putin’s major pressure points on Ukraine for five plus years.


Conflict


Crisis Management


UkraineAlert

Sep 19, 2019

How to lose friends and allies

By
Diane Francis

If Kolomoisky is not renounced and investigated, the world will turn its back on Ukraine. But the Russians and oligarchs won’t.


Corruption


Political Reform


UkraineAlert

Sep 18, 2019

The promise and peril of Ukraine’s borders

By
Ruslan Minich

Many Ukrainians work abroad, and Ukraine’s western regions feel the labor shortage most acutely.


Economy & Business


Migration


UkraineAlert

Sep 18, 2019

What holds Ukraine back

By
Yuri Polakiwsky

It’s time for prison terms and the assertion of the rule of law. It also is time to draw the proverbial line in the sand, that the corrupt oligarchical practices in the economy, in politics, and in greater Ukrainian society will no longer be tolerated.


Corruption


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Sep 18, 2019

More haste, less speed?

By
Bohdan Nahaylo

The focus needs to be broadened to include the entire range of oligarchs and not simply keep the spotlight on Kolomoisky.


Democratic Transitions


Political Reform

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.

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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