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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 10, 2020

Water for peace: Ukraine tests public opinion on a very dangerous deal

By
Mykola Vorobiov

A number of politicians from President Zelenskyy's ruling party have recently spoken out in support of renewing water supplies to Russian-occupied Crimea. Is Zelenskyy preparing public opinion for a grand bargain to secure peace in eastern Ukraine?


Conflict


Energy & Environment


UkraineAlert

Mar 9, 2020

MH17 court case: Putin’s Ukraine war goes on trial

By
Yaroslav Dovgopol

This week a court in the Netherlands begins hearing the case against three Russians and one Ukrainian charged with involvement in the 2014 downing of flight MH17. In reality, Putin's entire Ukraine war is on trial.


Conflict


Russia


UkraineAlert

Mar 5, 2020

Ukraine’s new government must act fast or face failure

By
Oleh Havrylyshyn and Basil Kalymon

The window of opportunity for reform may already be closing in today's Ukraine and President Zelenskyy's newly appointed cabinet of ministers will have to move fast in order to avoid missing their historic chance.


Democratic Transitions


Politics & Diplomacy


UkraineAlert

Mar 5, 2020

Ukraine’s novice president is in serious trouble already

By
Alexander J. Motyl

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has just replaced most of his cabinet, including his prime minister. His office will spin this as a sign of renewal. In fact, it’s an indication that Zelenskyy is in serious trouble.


Democratic Transitions


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Mar 5, 2020

Zelenskyy changes course with government reshuffle

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has launched a radical shake-up of his government just six months after it started work. New faces are out and experienced figures are in. What will this mean for the country's future trajectory and hopes for change?


Democratic Transitions


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Mar 4, 2020

Ze end?

By
Melinda Haring

What’s even clearer is that the tragedy of Ukraine’s politics goes on. And on. Everyone knows how to fix Ukraine, but no one actually does it.


Democratic Transitions


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Mar 3, 2020

Post-Merkel Germany: What can Ukraine expect?

By
Mattia Nelles

The race is on to succeed Angela Merkel as Germany's political leader, with three candidates competing in a CDU party leadership contest. What could the outcome mean for German policy towards Ukraine and Russia?


Germany


Politics & Diplomacy


UkraineAlert

Mar 3, 2020

Germany and Poland compete for Ukrainian migrant workers

By
Alexander Khrebet

New German labor laws introduced in March 2020 make it easier for Ukrainians to be employed in the country. This is sparking fears in Ukraine—and Poland—that we may soon see a new wave of Ukrainian economic migration.


Germany


Migration


UkraineAlert

Mar 2, 2020

US should revive Lend-Lease to contain Russia

By
Stephen Blank

The Western world has repeatedly been caught out by each new phase of Vladimir Putin's hybrid war. Could a new Lend-Lease program for Central and Eastern Europe allow the West to regain the initiative from the Kremlin?


Central Europe


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Feb 27, 2020

The lesson of Crimea: Appeasement never works

By
Oleksiy Goncharenko

The international community's weak response to Vladimir Putin's 2014 seizure of Crimea was a watershed moment for global security but attempts to appease Russia continue despite six subsequent years of hybrid warfare.


Conflict


Non-Traditional Threats

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 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

UkraineAlert

Jun 30, 2017

Ukraine’s Trashy Politics

By Diane Francis

Lviv is Ukraine’s most beautiful city, an exquisite UNESCO World Heritage site that has survived attacks and changed hands for seven centuries. The city is a successful IT hub and its hotels, restaurants, and architecture attract 2.5 million visitors a year. Since 2006, its reform-minded mayor and city council have upgraded infrastructure and enticed industry […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 29, 2017

War in Ukraine 2.0

By Melinda Haring

Russia is targeting the most capable and dedicated parts of the Ukrainian military. On June 27, Colonel Maksim Shapoval, commander of an elite Ukrainian military intelligence unit, was killed when his car exploded during his morning commute in downtown Kyiv. A few hours later, a massive cyberattack took out computer systems across the city. The […]

Russia Ukraine