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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.


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Latest analysis


UkraineAlert

Nov 18, 2020

Mayoral races in Ukraine: City-by-city runoff preview

By
Brian Mefford

Ukrainians will vote this weekend to elect mayors in a number of big cities across the country as the current local election cycle comes to a close with incumbents heavily favored to do well.


Elections


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Nov 17, 2020

Ukraine can learn from Azerbaijan’s recent victory

By
Taras Kuzio

Azerbaijan’s recent victory over Armenia offers some potentially important lessons for Ukraine, which is home to the most recent of the many little wars to erupt amid the ruins of the Soviet Empire.


Conflict


Security & Defense


UkraineAlert

Nov 16, 2020

Coronavirus crisis exposes Ukraine’s healthcare failures

By
Brian Mefford

The secondary phase of Ukraine's landmark healthcare reforms is being neglected by the government as the country suffers from faltering leadership in the fight against the coronavirus crisis.


Coronavirus


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Nov 14, 2020

What can Ukraine expect from a Biden presidency?

By
Peter Dickinson

Joe Biden's US presidential election victory was welcomed by many Ukrainians who felt that bilateral ties had suffered during the Trump presidency despite continued bipartisan US support for Ukraine.


Conflict


Elections


UkraineAlert

Nov 13, 2020

Ukrainian local elections: City-by-city guide to this weekend’s runoff votes

By
Brian Mefford

On November 15, Ukrainians will vote in mayoral runoff contests in six major cities in the second round of the country's local elections. Here is a rundown of what to expect from this Sunday's ballot.


Elections


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Nov 12, 2020

Shevchenko silences critics: Ukraine’s finest ever player earns respect as a manager

By
Mark Temnycky

Andriy Shevchenko is one of Ukraine's most celebrated footballers but few expected much when he was appointed as national team manager in 2016. Shevchenko has since proved his doubters wrong.


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Nov 11, 2020

Putin’s Karabakh victory sparks alarm in Ukraine

By
Anders Åslund

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to have achieved a significant victory in Nagorno-Karabakh that promises to alter the geopolitical balance throughout the former Soviet space in his favor.


Conflict


Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding


UkraineAlert

Nov 9, 2020

Ukraine will never reform until oligarchs lose power

By
Serhiy Verlanov

A counter-revolution is currently underway in Ukraine that highlights the difficulties of achieving genuine change in a society which is still dominated by a small group of extremely wealthy and influential oligarchs.


Corruption


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Nov 9, 2020

LGBTQ rights in Ukraine and the false dawn of Zelenskyy

By
Bogdan Globa

Today’s Ukraine finds itself in an increasingly homophobic neighborhood with a president whose approach to LGBTQ issues has so far failed to match his liberal rhetoric on the subject.


Human Rights


Resilience & Society


UkraineAlert

Nov 8, 2020

Why a Biden presidency is very good news for Ukraine

By
Anders Åslund

After Joe Biden’s US presidential election victory was declared, President Zelenskyy was one of the first foreign leaders to congratulate him. He was wise to do so. Ukraine has much to gain from a Biden presidency, as does Zelenskyy personally.


Conflict


Democratic Transitions

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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.

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Content

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

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