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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

Jan 27, 2023

Russia is losing the energy war as Putin’s winter gas attack backfires

By
Aura Sabadus

Putin expected to use gas exports to blackmail Europe and weaken Western support for Ukraine. Instead, this tactic has backfired disastrously and undermined Russia’s position on European energy markets.


Conflict


Energy Transitions


UkraineAlert

Jan 25, 2023

Tanks are vital but Ukraine will need much more to defeat Putin’s Russia

By
Jeffrey Cimmino, Shelby Magid

The decision by Germany and the United States to supply Ukraine with main battle tanks is an important landmark in international efforts to counter Putin's invasion but much more is required to defeat Russia.


Conflict


Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Jan 25, 2023

Scholz tank drama casts unflattering light on Germany’s Russia problem

By
Diane Francis

After months of debates and delays, Germany finally succumbed to international pressure on January 25 and announced that it would be delivering German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine and allowing others to do so.


Conflict


Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Jan 24, 2023

Putin is facing defeat in the information war

By
Peter Dickinson

Russia's entire invasion of Ukraine has been built on a web of deceit but Putin is now facing defeat in the information war as the gap between the Kremlin's alternative reality and the real world becomes too big to bridge.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jan 24, 2023

Wartime Ukraine must maintain course from Russian past to European future

By
Andrew D’Anieri

As Russia continues its genocidal war against Ukraine, it is more important than ever for Kyiv to maintain its commitment to the European future that so many Ukrainians are currently fighting for, writes Andrew D’Anieri.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jan 24, 2023

Leopard tank saga: Germany remains haunted by history

By
Bohdan Vitvitsky

Germany's reluctance to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine reflects the ongoing influence of war guilt for the crimes of the Nazi era while also highlighting a failure to differentiate between modern Russia and the Soviet Union.


Conflict


Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Jan 18, 2023

Putin’s nuclear blackmail must not prevent the liberation of Crimea

By
Andriy Zagorodnyuk

Putin's nuclear threats have led some analysts to argue against attempts to liberate Crimea but bowing down to the Russian dictator's nuclear blackmail would have dire consequences for global security, writes Andriy Zagorodnyuk.


Conflict


European Union


UkraineAlert

Jan 17, 2023

How Europe can help Ukraine defeat Russia and win the peace in 2023

By
Andreas Umland

Continued European support for Ukraine will be crucial in 2023 and must feature a combination of intensification and innovation if Vladimir Putin's invasion is to be decisively defeated, writes Andreas Umland.


Conflict


European Union


UkraineAlert

Jan 17, 2023

Resisting Russia one artwork at a time

By
Melinda Haring, Jacob Heilbrunn

“Women at War,” a new US exhibition featuring a variety of works by twelve female Ukrainian artists, is a symbol of defiance to the Kremlin’s latest attempt to expunge Ukraine’s heritage.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jan 16, 2023

Equity for Ukraine

By
Ira Straus

Excessive Western caution in the supply of weapons to Ukraine is costing Ukrainian lives and fueling Russian impunity while preventing meaningful progress toward peace, writes Ira Straus.


Conflict


European Union

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Content

UkraineAlert

Apr 17, 2017

Meet Ulana Suprun: Ukraine’s Top Doctor Takes on Tax Chief and Corrupt System

By Diane Francis

In March, Ukraine’s reformers applauded when the National Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested Roman Nasirov, the country’s chief tax and customs official, on embezzlement charges. But he claimed he was having a heart attack, called an ambulance, and was diagnosed as too ill to be taken to court. Such tricks might have worked before, but this time […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 17, 2017

Why Investors Are Giving Ukraine a Second Chance

By Daniel Bilak

Ukraine today is open and transparent, but foreign investors are often taken aback by its challenges. While corruption and property rights are issues, any objective assessment must recognize the monumental strides the country has taken on these issues. After three years of reforms, society is fatigued, and the mood is pessimistic. The current media narrative—that […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 17, 2017

New Poll Shows Ukrainians Hungry for Change

By Oksana Bedratenko and Katie LaRoque

A new poll shows that Ukrainians are hungry for change and finally seeing it at the local level. On April 10, the International Republican Institute (IRI) released its annual municipal survey, tracking the views of more than 19,000 Ukrainians in twenty-four cities. Three years since IRI’s first survey, residents in fifteen of the twenty-four cities […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 12, 2017

Secretary Tillerson, Here’s Why Taxpayers Should Care about Ukraine

By Melinda Haring

At the Group of Seven meeting in Lucca, Italy, on April 11, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asked the other foreign ministers, “Why should US taxpayers be interested in Ukraine?” US Senator Rob Portman and several other panelists answered that question at an April 5 conference on Ukraine in Washington, DC, sponsored by the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 11, 2017

Is Belarus coming unglued too?

By Francišak Viačorka

The Russian crackdown showed that the country’s internal problems are getting sharper, and the Kremlin will likely not have enough resources to continue its financial support of Lukashenka’s regime.

Belarus Russia

UkraineAlert

Apr 11, 2017

Why Does the IMF Keep Funding Ukraine?

By Anders Åslund

When the International Monetary Fund’s board convened on April 3, it found that the Ukrainian government had fulfilled only five out of fourteen structural reform conditions it had outlined. Nevertheless, Ukraine received a $1 billion installment of its $17.5 billion financial support for the government’s reform program. Was it pure politics that Ukraine got a […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 10, 2017

Why Did Putin Get Stuck in Eastern Ukraine?

By Peter Dickinson

Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine is now entering its fourth year, but there was a time when few expected it to last even four weeks. The virtually bloodless seizure of Crimea, which fell to Russian troops in early 2014 without a fight, led most observers to conclude that Ukraine was effectively defenseless and at Moscow’s […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 10, 2017

Is Russia Winning in Serbia? Maybe, But Not for the Reasons You Think

By Dimitar Bechev

One year ago, in April 2016 when Serbia held snap polls, the BBC ran the headline “Pro-EU Prime Minister Vučić Claims Victory.” One year later, after Aleksandar Vučić’s resounding win in the presidential election on April 2, the international media has styled him “Putin’s Serb ally.” Who’s right and where is Serbian foreign policy heading? […]

European Union International Organizations

UkraineAlert

Apr 10, 2017

From Trench Coats to Tuxedos: How the Kremlin Deploys its Dirty Tricks Today

By Diane Francis

The same dirty tricks deployed by the KGB for decades are used in today’s Cold War 2.0, and have permeated geopolitics from Syria to Ukraine and the world’s capitals. But spies in trench coats been supplanted by Russians in tuxedos with huge bank accounts who use financial, social, and political weaponry to build tentacles that […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 5, 2017

The Coming Crackdown on Ukraine’s Anticorruption Crusaders

By Daria Kaleniuk

President Petro Poroshenko’s new restrictions on anticorruption groups are appalling and threaten to reverse much of the progress Ukraine has made since the Euromaidan. Some analysts who defend the new law have got the details all wrong. Others have sounded the alarm, but the fine points of the regulations remain murky. On March 27, Poroshenko […]

Ukraine