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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

Aug 16, 2021

Afghanistan collapse sparks wave of alarm in Ukraine

By
Alyona Getmanchuk

The complete collapse of the US-backed Afghan government in recent weeks has sparked alarm in Ukraine and led to questions over the future of the country's own strategic partnership with America.


Afghanistan


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Aug 15, 2021

The West must not force a Russian “peace” on Ukraine

By
Volodymyr Vasylenko

By appeasing Russia in Ukraine and pressuring Kyiv to accept peace on the Kremlin's terms, the democratic world risks turning Minsk into a new Munich, argues veteran Ukrainian diplomat Volodymyr Vasylenko.


Conflict


International Norms


UkraineAlert

Aug 12, 2021

Ukraine must do more to protect civilians living close to the conflict contact line

By
Beatrice Godefroy, Suleiman Mamutov

With little hope of a breakthrough towards peace in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian authorities must focus their attention on protecting civilians caught up in the ongoing conflict.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Aug 12, 2021

Countering Putin’s passport policies in Ukraine

By
Vitaliy Nabukhotny

Moscow has weaponized the distribution of Russian passports as part of its hybrid campaign to undermine Ukrainian sovereignty. How should Ukraine and the international community fight back?


Conflict


Non-Traditional Threats


UkraineAlert

Aug 9, 2021

Remembering Yevhen Marchuk

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukrainian politician Yevhen Marchuk passed away on August 5 at the age of eighty. Marchuk was one of the country’s most prominent public figures during the early years of Ukrainian independence, founding the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) before serving as both Prime Minister and Defense Minister.


Politics & Diplomacy


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Aug 7, 2021

The 2008 Russo-Georgian War: Putin’s green light

By
Peter Dickinson

The 2008 Russo-Georgian War is now widely recognized as a landmark event in Russia's emergence under Vladimir Putin as a revisionist power seeking to reverse the verdict of 1991.


Conflict


European Union


UkraineAlert

Aug 5, 2021

Time to remind Russia that Crimea is Ukraine

By
Oleksii Reznikov

The inaugural meeting of Ukraine's new Crimean Platform initiative will take place in Kyiv later this month as efforts continue to end the seven-year Russian occupation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Aug 5, 2021

How Ukraine can push back against Vladimir Putin’s twisted history

By
Tom Warner

Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent article on Ukrainian history has been interpreted by many as a declaration of war against Ukrainian national identity. How should Ukraine respond to this ominous essay?


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Aug 5, 2021

Here to dine in Kyiv

By
Melinda Haring

Looking for a quick foodie holiday? The food in Ukraine is by turns inventive and inexpensive, creative, and delicious.


Civil Society


Ukraine


BelarusAlert

Aug 4, 2021

Belarus dissident death in Ukraine fuels fears over Lukashenka death squads

By
Brian Whitmore

The suspicious death of exiled Belarus dissident Vital Shyshou in Kyiv this week is fueling speculation over dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka's use of death squads to eliminate political opponents across Europe.


Belarus


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

Feb 6, 2017

Why Trump Will Soon Put Putin on Notice

By Diane Francis

On February 1, military tough guy Mike Flynn, President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor, put Iran “officially on notice” for testing a missile in violation of a UN resolution. By contrast, on January 31 the State Department issued a tepid statement condemning a murderous military assault on a Ukrainian town in the east without condemning […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 6, 2017

Changes in Washington, Brussels, and Berlin: What Do They Mean for Kyiv?

By Andreas Umland

As US President Donald Trump introduces a new leadership style, political and economic crises play out in the EU, and tensions in Russia’s foreign and domestic affairs increase, the effects will be astutely felt in Ukraine—a country that has become a key battleground state in the confrontation between the world’s pro- and anti-Western forces. The […]

European Union Germany

UkraineAlert

Feb 6, 2017

The End of the Rose for Saakashvili

By Luis Navarro

Dynamic, revolutionary, modernizer, narcissist, opportunist: all of these are terms that have been used to describe Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia and would-be Ukrainian leader. Over the course of a storied political career, all have been true to varying degrees. But what is true now is that Saakashvili has exceeded his expiration date […]

The Caucasus Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 2, 2017

Why Trump Cannot Ignore Ukraine

By Adrian Karatnycky

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s telephone conversation on January 28 occurred amid widespread speculation that Trump would lift sanctions on Russia. While no such announcements were even hinted at, the contours of the emerging US-Russia dialogue will have momentous consequences for European security and for Ukraine. The official White House readout […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2017

Four Easy Ways the EU Can Support Ukraine

By Josh Cohen

Europe’s leadership seems to realize the challenge US President Donald Trump poses to the transatlantic alliance: German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently reminded Europe that “our fate is in our own hands,” while Guy Verhofstadt, president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, argues, “Europe must take its destiny and security in its own […]

European Union Germany

UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2017

From Fake News to Fake Opinion

By Brian Mefford

A few weeks ago, a colleague asked why I was a part of an organization called the Center for Global Strategic Monitoring (also known as the CGS Monitor). Despite working in foreign policy for seventeen years, I had never heard of this organization. Imagine my surprise when I discovered my photograph and biography listed on […]

Europe & Eurasia Russia

UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2017

Are the Baltic States Really Indefensible?

By Stephen Blank

One of the great canards of our time is that the Baltic states are indefensible. Although the reasons for making this argument are rarely spelled out, they revolve around the presumption that Russia not only enjoys local conventional superiority, but also that NATO cannot and often implicitly should not defend them and thereby make a […]

NATO Northern Europe

UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2017

Ukraine Needs Investment, Not Just Solidarity: Time for International Donors to Pony Up

By Anders Åslund

After three years of heroic reforms following the Euromaidan, Ukraine has restored macroeconomic stability. The economy is growing again, but far too slowly. The expected growth is 2.5 percent in 2017. But it should swing up to six to eight percent, as it was for eight years in the early 2000s. The key now is […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 25, 2017

How to Trump-Proof Sanctions on Russia

By Alina Polyakova

US President Donald J. Trump has said he is open to ending sanctions on Russia in exchange for a nuclear arms reduction deal with the Kremlin. “[L]et’s see if we can get some good deals with Russia,” he said. Trump has the authority to reverse sanctions because the Obama administration used executive orders to mandate […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 23, 2017

Beat Back Russia and Stand with Ukraine, Biden Urges at Davos

By Diane Francis

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s last official speech was delivered January 18 in Davos at the World Economic Forum. It was a tour de force summoning leaders to protect the “liberal international order” against China, Iran, Russia, and others bent on destroying it. “This movement is principally led by Russia, working with every tool to […]

Russia Ukraine