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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

Feb 8, 2022

With Putin poised to invade, Zelenskyy must prioritize Ukrainian unity

By
Kira Rudik

With Russian troops poised to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it is time for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to put personal rivalries to one side and unite the country's political forces, says Kira Rudik.


Conflict


Corruption


UkraineAlert

Feb 8, 2022

Ukraine prepares to unplug from Russian electricity amid invasion fears

By
Aura Sabadus

Amid mounting fears of a full-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine remains determined to proceed with a planned trial disconnection from the Russian electricity grid in order to progress towards European energy integration.


Conflict


Energy Markets & Governance


UkraineAlert

Feb 7, 2022

Still not too late for Germany to honor its commitment to Ukraine

By
Eugene Czolij

Germany says a sense of "historical responsibility" over Nazi crimes prevents Berlin from adopting a firmer stand against Russia. Many in Ukraine ask why this logic does not also apply to the millions of Ukrainian WWII victims.


Conflict


Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion


UkraineAlert

Feb 7, 2022

US delegation: America stands with Ukraine against Russian threat

By
Eurasia Center

The Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center organized a delegation to visit Kyiv on January 30-February 1 planned around a major public event organized in concert with Yalta European Strategy and the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, a partner of the Eurasia Center.


Conflict


European Union


UkraineAlert

Feb 4, 2022

Russia demands security guarantees but what Putin really wants is Ukraine

By
Iulian Romanyshyn

Russian President Vladimir Putin claims to seek security guarantees and an end to NATO expansion but the crisis he has recently engineered is really all about reasserting Kremlin control over Ukraine, says Iulian Romanyshyn.


Conflict


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Feb 3, 2022

Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine playbook echoes the traditional tactics of Russian imperialism

By
Łukasz Adamski

Putin's hybrid war against Ukraine has been portrayed as innovative but Moscow’s approach also echoes more traditional tactics from the golden age of Russian imperialism and the era of Soviet expansionism.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Feb 2, 2022

The new Ukraine needs a new census

By
Andrew D’Anieri

Ukraine has not conducted a national census in more than two decades and must address this issue in order to provide up-to-date information reflecting the dramatic changes taking place within Ukrainian society.


Conflict


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2022

US delegation tells Ukrainians: Your fight is our fight

By
Peter Dickinson

A high-level American delegation arrived in Kyiv on January 30 for a visit designed to demonstrate US solidarity and support for Ukraine as the country faces up to the threat of a potential full-scale Russian invasion.


Conflict


Politics & Diplomacy


UkraineAlert

Jan 30, 2022

Ukraine Crisis: Western sanctions must target Putin’s propagandists

By
Yevhen Fedchenko

As Putin threatens a new invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s disinformation apparatus is playing a central role in the march to war. The international community must recognize this role and react accordingly.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jan 30, 2022

Ukraine Crisis: Will Putin deploy his energy weapons against Europe?

By
Aura Sabadus

In recent months, Russia has frequently been accused of using energy supplies as a geopolitical weapon. With international tensions now rising, such tactics may soon become more prominent.


Conflict


European Union

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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.

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

May 10, 2017

Q&A: Will We Ever Get to the Bottom of Russian Hacking in the US Election?

By Melinda Haring

President Donald Trump fired FBI director James Comey on May 9. Comey had been leading a criminal investigation into whether Trump’s advisers colluded with the Russian government to influence the results of the 2016 presidential election. Trump justified the firing by pointing to the way Comey handled the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server, […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

May 10, 2017

Ukraine Needs Tough Love and IMF Conditionality, Leshchenko Urges

By Diane Francis

“The IMF should not give one more dollar to Ukraine until the Anti-Corruption Court is in operation,” said Sergii Leshchenko in a May 9 telephone interview. Leshchenko is a hero of the Revolution of Dignity, a lanky and serious journalist-turned-politician who has risked his life and career for years to fight corruption in Ukraine. He’s […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 10, 2017

Russia Deploys Banned Missile and Brags about It

By Semen Kabakaev

Thirty years ago, on December 8, 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), which entered into force on June 1, 1988. The parties pledged not to produce, test or deploy ballistic and cruise land-based missiles of medium range (from 1,000 to 5,500 kilometers). Elimination of all declared missiles and […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 9, 2017

How to Win Friends and Influence People on a Global Scale

By Alexandra Hall Hall

Dale Carnegie’s famous self-help book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, centers on investing in personal relationships in order to achieve success. President Donald Trump has demonstrated an instinctive understanding of this principle in the way he has interacted with a succession of world leaders, whether over a round of golf at Mar-a-Lago or […]

The Caucasus

UkraineAlert

May 8, 2017

How Trump Can Fix US-Russia Ties

By Alexander Vershbow

US President Donald Trump will have his first high-level meeting with a Russian representative this week, when Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov comes to the White House following a scheduled meeting with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The stakes are high: about the only thing on which Moscow and Washington agree is that relations are at […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 5, 2017

How Not to Become a War Criminal: A Guide for Russian Soldiers

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

Few Russian citizens view the Kremlin’s invasion into Ukraine as unlawful. Not many Russian servicemen realize that when they are fighting there, they fight as unnamed, faceless soldiers who lack the protection of international pacts, including the Geneva Conventions. They not only risk death, injury, or abandonment by the state that sent them there; they […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 4, 2017

Why Is the Kremlin So Fixated on Phantom Fascists?

By Peter Dickinson

In April, reports emerged of Kremlin plans to launch a major smear campaign against Russian opposition figurehead Alexey Navalny. Within days, an expensive-looking attack video had appeared anonymously on YouTube, comparing Navalny to Adolf Hitler. The Russian authorities denied any connection to the video, but few believed them. After all, branding opponents as fascists is […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 3, 2017

Will Ukrainians Ever Trust the Press?

By Adam Tismaneanu

Journalism has changed since the Euromaidan, but most Ukrainians still don’t trust the media. Oligarchs continue to own a majority of the major outlets. Since 2014, reformers have established a public broadcasting service and are in the process of privatizing several hundred state-owned newspapers. Those steps may not be enough. The media suffers from a […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 3, 2017

Mikheil Saakashvili: “By my own standards, I failed on every account in Odesa.”

By Diane Francis

Mikheil Saakashvili strode into the Toronto Four Seasons Hotel on a Saturday morning, all smiles and apologies for being late. The café was empty, except for myself, a handful of patrons, and a young waiter who had recently immigrated from Ukraine. I told him who I was waiting for and he smiled. Saakashvili is only […]

Russia The Caucasus

UkraineAlert

May 2, 2017

Does RT Really Believe in Free Speech? Prove It

By Jeffrey Gedmin

RT aims to discredit the United States in a straightforward way. The Kremlin-funded television network—established in 2005, operating in English, Arabic, and Spanish—doesn’t report on America and the West warts and all, but rather focuses single-mindedly on warts alone. That’s not all. Sins of omission, falsehoods, and conspiracy theories—like Ukraine shooting down the Malaysian Airlines […]

France Russia