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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

Jul 18, 2022

Canada accused of betraying Ukraine and helping Russia break sanctions

By
Diane Francis

Canada is facing accusations of bowing to Kremlin blackmail after agreeing to lift sanctions imposed over Vladimir Putin's Ukraine invasion in order to secure Russian gas supplies to Germany.


Conflict


Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion


UkraineAlert

Jul 15, 2022

Killer in the Kremlin: New book explores Vladimir Putin’s bloody reign

By
John Sweeney

British journalist John Sweeney's new book "Killer In The Kremlin" offers a chilling portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin as a menace to global security whose entire reign has been marked by death and destruction.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 15, 2022

EU candidate status is an historic opportunity to transform Ukraine

By
Kira Rudik

The decision to grant Ukraine official EU candidate status does not guarantee the country's future membership but the process of further integration can dramatically boost Ukraine's domestic reform momentum, writes Kira Rudik.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 13, 2022

Building a better Ukraine: Rule of law is essential for post-war prosperity

By
Bohdan Vitvitsky

Few would argue that the rule of law is essential for Ukraine’s post-war prosperity. However, previous efforts to implement judicial reforms have fallen short. What is required to make sure next time is different?


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 13, 2022

Putin weaponizes Russian passports in his genocidal war against Ukraine

By
Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin's decision to expand fast-track Russian passport distribution to the whole of Ukraine is a clear signal that his imperial appetite is not limited to the Ukrainian regions currently under Kremlin control.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jul 9, 2022

Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine at risk from infections and epidemics

By
Ihor Kuzin

Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and occupation of around 20% of the country has produced a range of major public health challenges that require urgent international attention, writes Ihor Kuzin.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 8, 2022

Putin’s energy weapon: Europe must be ready for Russian gas blackmail

By
Aura Sabadus

Disarming Putin's energy weapon: Europe can disconnect from Russia’s gas supplies sooner than some would suggest providing it mobilizes the right human and financial resources to work in that direction.


Conflict


Energy Markets & Governance


UkraineAlert

Jul 8, 2022

Post-Boris Britain will continue to stand with Ukraine against Putin’s war

By
Peter Dickinson

Boris Johnson's resignation has sparked fears in Kyiv over continued UK support but in reality there is little chance of a weakening in British backing for Ukraine in its fight for survival against Vladimir Putin's ongoing invasion.


Conflict


Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion


UkraineAlert

Jul 6, 2022

Ukraine defies Russia and launches electricity exports to EU neighbors

By
Aura Sabadus

Ukraine’s remarkable wartime synchronization with the electricity grid of continental Europe moved up a gear at the end of June with the landmark launch of commercial electricity exports to neighboring Romania.


Conflict


Energy Markets & Governance


UkraineAlert

Jul 4, 2022

Why Ukraine loves Boris

By
Peter Dickinson

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's domestic approval rating has hit rock bottom but he is the most popular foreign politician in Ukraine thanks to his support for the country in its fight against Vladimir Putin's invasion.


Conflict


National Security

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

Sep 26, 2016

The Audacity of Nadiya Savchenko

By Melinda Haring

“Russian propaganda made the mistake of using me as an example, and I just became too expensive for them. I am a person who never gives up,” said Nadiya Savchenko, a former prisoner of war, current member of Ukraine’s parliament, and one of the country’s most popular politicians, on September 22. Three days earlier, the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 26, 2016

Can Vladimir Putin Make the Twenty-First Century a Russian Century?

By Anders Åslund

The role Russia is playing in Donald Trump’s election campaign is quite extraordinary. The candidate’s son has acknowledged that Trump’s companies have received large Russian investments. His former campaign manager Paul Manafort worked for Ukraine’s disgraced pro-Moscow authoritarian president for almost a decade. Two of his foreign policy advisers, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and Carter […]

European Union International Organizations

UkraineAlert

Sep 23, 2016

How Ukraine Can Signal It’s Serious about Reform

By Oksana Bedratenko

Thirteen months since the last tranche, the IMF has finally allocated the third tranche of its program to Ukraine, bringing the total disbursement to $7.6 billion. Although it is less than the originally planned $1.7 billion and came with substantial delays, the receipt of the $1 billion tranche was celebrated by the Ukrainian government as […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 21, 2016

Crimean Residents Vote in Russian Elections, Reluctantly

By Eleanor Knott

For the first time since Russia annexed Crimea, Russian elections were held on the territory of the disputed peninsula. That elections were held in Crimea has been a source of contention between Russia and the international community. OSCE election observers refused to monitor the polls in Crimea, and the US and EU condemned the September […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 21, 2016

Meet Maxim Nefyodov: How Ukrainian Geeks Tackled Corruption in Public Procurement

By Anastasiya Ringis

One day in September 2013, when Maxim Nefyodov, a managing partner at the investment firm Icon Private Equity, was leaving his office on Rylskiy Lane, he witnessed a funny scene. Accompanied by eight bodyguards, President Viktor Yanukovych’s odious ally, Yuriy Ivanyushchenko, was walking from an office building to his luxury SUV. To Nefyodov this spectacle […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 21, 2016

Does Putin Have 35 Million Secret Weapons?

By Lukas Trakimavičius

“Russia is back.” These were the recent words of General Curtis Scaparrotti, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe—and he was correct. Thanks to a rapidly growing arms budget and a worrisome frequency of snap military drills near NATO’s borders, Russia is indeed back to the game of power politics after a twenty-five year hiatus. The implications […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 19, 2016

Putin’s Illusions about Crimea

By Olesya Yakhno

In the recent plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum [on September 3 in Vladivostok], Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the issue of Crimea’s ownership is historically closed. Despite the adamant tone, such statements do not show Russia’s confidence but instead reveal the Kremlin’s vulnerability on this issue. The concept Krym nash (Crimea is […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 19, 2016

Memo to the West: Reject Russia’s Illegal Duma Elections

By Hanna Hopko

On September 18, Russians went to the polls to elect 450 members of parliament. The big news is that Vladimir Putin’s United Russia performed surprisingly well, taking approximately 54 percent of the vote. But the underreported news is this: Russians elected four MPs from occupied Ukrainian Crimea, which is illegal and grossly violates international law. […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 19, 2016

Ten Things the New US Ambassador to Ukraine Should Do

By Melinda Haring and Kateryna Smagliy

On August 18, Marie L. Yovanovitch became the US Ambassador to Ukraine. Yovanovitch is not new to the country; she served as the deputy chief of mission in Kyiv—the second in command—under Ambassadors Carlos Pascual and John Herbst months before the Orange Revolution erupted. She spent the bulk of her career working in the Eurasia […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 14, 2016

Why the West Ignores Russia’s Wars

By Andrew Kornbluth

This month will mark one year since the beginning of Russia’s intervention in Syria and two and a half years since its invasion of Ukraine’s Donbas region. In Syria, Russia has indiscriminately bombed inhabited areas using virtually every type of conventional munition in its arsenal—thermobaric, cluster, and incendiary—killing around 3,000 civilians so far. These deaths […]

Russia Ukraine