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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

Jul 1, 2022

With all eyes on Ukraine, Vladimir Putin targets domestic dissidents

By
Doug Klain

While international attention focuses on Vladimir Putin’s genocidal war in Ukraine, the Russian government is accelerating its brutal crackdown on any remaining expressions of anti-regime dissent on the domestic front.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jun 30, 2022

Goodwill gestures and de-Nazification: Decoding Putin’s Ukraine War lexicon

By
Peter Dickinson

From “goodwill gestures” to “de-Nazification” and “reclaiming Russian lands,” the Atlantic Council's Peter Dickinson decodes some of the key phrases from the lexicon of Putin’s Ukraine War into plain English.


Central Asia


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jun 29, 2022

Vladimir Putin’s Ukrainian genocide is proceeding in plain view

By
Taras Kuzio

Western policymakers should be in no doubt that the many different Russian war crimes currently taking place in Ukraine are all part of a coherent plan developed by Vladimir Putin to commit genocide.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jun 28, 2022

Fear of confronting Putin will lead to Russian victory in Ukraine

By
Richard D. Hooker, Jr.

So far, the war in Ukraine has taught Vladimir Putin that NATO and the EU will go to great lengths to avoid confronting him. This has grave consequences for Ukraine itself and for the wider international community.


Conflict


European Union


UkraineAlert

Jun 27, 2022

Odesa rejects Russia: Putin’s Ukraine War turns old allies into bitter enemies

By
Oleksiy Goncharenko

Putin has long claimed to be the champion of pro-Russian Ukrainians. However, the Ukrainian regions most closely associated with pro-Kremlin sentiment have also been hardest hit by the current invasion.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jun 24, 2022

Ukraine edges closer to EU dream despite horrors of Putin’s war

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine has this week secured official EU candidate status as the country seeks to advance its European integration ambitions while also defending itself against an ongoing Russian invasion.


Conflict


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Jun 23, 2022

What Ukrainians need most

By
Melinda Haring

Aid efforts in support of Ukrainians are more necessary than ever but as the Russian invasion enters its fifth month there are worrying signs that international attention is now beginning to fade.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jun 21, 2022

“Historic victory for women’s rights”: Ukraine ratifies Istanbul Convention

By
Iryna Slavinska

Ukraine has this week ratified the Istanbul Convention in a major step toward greater protections against domestic and gender-based violence as the country seeks to make further progress in its European integration bid.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jun 21, 2022

What would EU candidate status mean for Ukraine?

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukrainians expect the country to be granted official EU candidate nation status at this week's summit of European leaders but what would this mean for Ukraine's broader ambitions for greater Euro-Atlantic integration?


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jun 20, 2022

Time for EU leaders to honor Ukraine’s long fight for a European future

By
Mark Temnycky

Ukraine hopes to receive official EU candidate nation status this week as the country's long struggle for a European future enters a new phase while Ukrainian forces continue to defend against Russian invasion.


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

Jun 1, 2017

Ukraine Beats Russia in Epic Gas Battle

By Anders Aslund

On May 31, Ukraine’s Naftogaz won an extraordinary victory over Russia’s Gazprom in the international arbitration court in Stockholm. This was the possibly biggest international arbitration verdict ever. Gazprom had claimed $47.1 billion from Naftogaz, half of Ukraine’s GDP, and Naftogaz $30.3 billion from Gazprom.   Naftogaz won on all three counts the court considered. […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 31, 2017

NATO’s Double Standards: Why Montenegro but Not Ukraine?

By Taras Kuzio

On June 5, Montenegro will become the twenty-ninth member of NATO. This comes at a time when accession talks with the EU are also occurring; the EU has offered membership to Montenegro and other countries in the western Balkans. To any careful observer, it is obvious that the standards for Montenegro’s inclusion in the alliance […]

NATO Russia

UkraineAlert

May 31, 2017

Will Ukraine’s New Supreme Court Be Any Different?

By Mykhailo Zhernakov

Every successful reform needs the right legal framework, the right institutions, and the right people. Take NABU—Ukraine’s newly established National Anticorruption Bureau. This spring it managed to arrest the notorious head of the State Fiscal Service Roman Nasirov, and one of the country’s top political moguls Mykola Martynenko—a task no other law enforcement body would […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 31, 2017

How Putin Accidentally United Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine became an independent country in 1991, but it took the outbreak of war in 2014 to forge it into a fully-fledged nation. As is often the case with major historic shifts, this change was not immediately apparent at the time. Even now, three years on, it may come as news to the millions of […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 25, 2017

Ukrainians Discover Europe This Summer. Will Europe Discover Ukraine?

By James Brooke

Ukraine is embarking on its summer of Europe. On June 11, summer starts with a boom. That’s when visa-free tourism begins for Ukrainians, allowing them to visit the twenty-six countries of Europe’s Schengen zone, including the four non-EU members. Only Britain and Ireland are excluded. To carry the tourists, discount airlines Wizz Air and Ryanair […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 25, 2017

It’s Counterintuitive, but Arming Ukraine Will Actually Save US Taxpayers Money

By Stephen Blank

In April, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asked, “Why should US taxpayers be interested in Ukraine?” Now, the United States does not always provide assistance or help defend other victims of aggression, so the answer must go beyond the simple observation that Ukraine is the victim of premeditated aggression. I see five reasons why. First, […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 24, 2017

The Obvious Mistake We Make in Fighting Russian Disinformation

By Geysha Gonzalez

“The person who tells their story best, wins,” said Jed Willard of the FDR Center for Global Engagement at Harvard University in Prague on May 17, succinctly explaining the challenges of fighting disinformation. Willard and 330 other experts from twenty-nine countries gathered in Prague for a strategic communications summit (STRATCOM) hosted by European Values, a […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

May 24, 2017

Will Facebook Finally Fight Disinformation or Just Make Things Worse?

By Nina Jankowicz

For years, Facebook has quietly and very intentionally inserted itself into the daily lives of its users. It has succeeded wildly, becoming arguably the world’s most ubiquitous communication platform, with an average of 1.28 billion daily users. But now that it has become one of the world’s most popular sources of news, Facebook is failing […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

May 23, 2017

By Changing Alphabet, Kazakhs Take Another Step Toward the West

By Ariel Cohen

Kazakhstan has decided to switch alphabets, from Cyrillic to Latin script, by 2025. After decades of Russian and Soviet domination, countries are developing their own cultural code, though some feel uneasy about the change. Yet the Latin alphabet will only boost Kazakhstan’s international integration and its economic, technological, and scientific development. Plus, Latin script isn’t […]

Central Asia

UkraineAlert

May 23, 2017

The Reform Story Isn’t Over in Kyiv

By Ivan Mikloš

In the West, many people are ready to write off Ukraine. They wrongly believe that Ukraine’s reforms are stagnating, corruption is widespread, and the country is at war. But Ukraine’s reforms are definitely not done. To understand Ukraine’s promise, one must first grasp the country’s situation in 2014 when the reforms began. Two decades of […]

Ukraine