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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

Oct 25, 2016

The Doctor Is In: Ukraine’s New Health Minister Already Shaking Up Sclerotic System

By
Michael Getto

Health care in Ukraine has not worked in the past—not for hospitals, clinics, doctors or nurses, and most important, not for the Ukrainian people, regardless of where they live or work, unless they are fortunate enough to pay under the table to receive the most basic care. Entrenched, bureaucratic, and corrupt interests, wielding a combination […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 24, 2016

What Can the West Do to Get Putin’s Attention?

By
Christopher A. Hartwell and Andreas Umland

The Case for Smarter Sanctions on Russia What should be done about an increasingly aggressive Russia? The past few weeks have brought more evidence of Moscow’s moves away from international norms and law. From continued denials of complicity in the MH17 tragedy and the bombing of a humanitarian convoy in Syria, to Russian President Vladimir […]


Russia


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 24, 2016

Old Ukraine Launches Campaign against Ukraine’s Most Influential Woman and Top Banker

By
Anders Åslund

An attempt is underway in the Ukrainian parliament to deprive the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) of its independence and oust its governor, Valeriya Hontareva. This would be a major reversal of Ukraine’s economic reforms and must be stopped. In the last two years, Ukraine has carried out its most fundamental economic reforms since its […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 21, 2016

There They Go Again: International Media Enables Russian Aggression in Ukraine

By
Peter Dickinson

When does a Russian warlord become a “pro-Russian separatist?” Newsrooms around the world may want to ask themselves this question following Russian militant leader Arsen Pavlov’s assassination in Donetsk in mid-October. In the wake of the killing, one news report after another ran with headlines referring to Pavlov as a pro-Russian separatist leader, creating the impression […]


Russia


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 20, 2016

No Peace without the People: A Case for Grassroots Reconciliation in Ukraine

By
Lauren Van Metre

This week’s meeting in Paris of the Normandy Four is a critical one. If there is no measurable progress there to advance a framework for peace in Ukraine, public sentiment that Minsk is exhausted as a peace process will only grow. (Editor’s note: On October 19, 2016, France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine agreed to a […]


Russia


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2016

Why Ukraine’s New Ultranationalist Party Will Not Last

By
Alina Polyakova

On October 14, the Azov Battalion—Ukraine’s controversial ultranationalist paramilitary group that has been fighting in the Donbas as part of the National Guard—entered the political fray. Registered as a political party under the name National Corps, the new party proposes an ambitious military and nationalist agenda, including a re-nationalization of Ukraine’s private sector and nuclear […]


Russia


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2016

Ukraine’s Invisible Refugees

By
Diane Francis

Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan are not the world’s only major “refugee” hosting nations. Ukraine too hosts enormous numbers of people who have had to leave their homes because of war. Millions fled their homes in 2014 after Russian operatives and tanks invaded Ukraine’s eastern regions and annexed Crimea. But they are not labeled “refugees.” Instead, […]


Russia


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 18, 2016

Europe Funds Russian Aggression in Ukraine, Syria, and Beyond

By
Mykhailo Gonchar and Hanna Hopko

Three-Fourths of Russian Oil Sold to Europe On October 20, the Council of the European Union will consider its strategy toward the Russian Federation. Following the resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Europe faces a genuine challenge: to recognize Russian aggression against Ukraine for what it is, and to provide truly […]


European Union


Germany


UkraineAlert

Oct 18, 2016

Ukraine Scores Diplomatic Breakthrough

By
Vera Zimmerman

“Security First, Elections Next,” the West Concedes After long resisting Western pressure to implement the political points in the Minsk agreements, Ukraine scored a diplomatic victory last week when the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) passed two important resolutions. The first resolution officially defines the conflict in Ukraine as Russian aggression, countering […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 17, 2016

Ukraine’s New Liberals Face Tough Climb from Streets to Seats in Parliament

By
Melinda Haring

Ukraine now has a liberal European party, but can it become a nationwide party with real heft in parliament? On July 9, Euromaidan leaders joined forces with the Democratic Alliance party. The reinvigorated party is still preparing its program statement, but broadly it’s a liberal European party that supports free market ideas, strongly opposes corruption, […]


Russia


Ukraine

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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

UkraineAlert

Sep 13, 2016

An Important Reform Milestone: An Independent Energy Regulator in Ukraine

By Olena Halushka

It is hard to find anything that unites the Ukrainian parliament as efficiently as the body’s regular and purposeful failure to adopt the bill on the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities. Neither the demands of the expert community, nor the bill’s connection with Ukraine’s international commitments, nor even the threat […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 13, 2016

Here’s What Ukrainian-Americans Are Doing For Ukraine

By Alina Polyakova

Ukraine’s Maidan revolution united Ukraine as a nation like never before, and it reinvigorated Ukrainian-American communities across the United States. While Ukrainian-Americans are well organized nationally through such organizations as the Ukrainian Congress Committee of Ukraine and in metropolitan areas with large Ukrainian communities, such as Chicago and New York, Ukrainian-Americans in smaller towns have […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 13, 2016

Ukraine’s Signature Transparency Initiative Comes Under Fire Again

By Josh Cohen

In October 2014, Ukraine’s parliament passed a law requiring all public officials to file an electronic declaration disclosing their assets. The law requires the identification of assets directly held by officials, as well as those held by family members, which means officials can no longer hide illegally obtained assets in the names of family members. […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 9, 2016

What Poroshenko Said and Didn’t Say

By Kateryna Kruk

Unsurprisingly Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko kicked off his annual televised address to parliament on September 6 with words of unity. “At a time when Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is still ongoing, when the military threat from the east is the most difficult strategic challenge, the issue of national unity and political consolidation is a matter […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 7, 2016

The Russian Balance Sheet at Hangzhou

By Stephen Blank

The recent G-20 meetings in Hangzhou, China provide a useful balance sheet for assessing Russia’s status in Europe. While Russian President Vladimir Putin showed that Russia is not as isolated as many in the West think it should be, Putin failed to convince France and Germany to pressure Ukraine to implement the Minsk II ceasefire […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 6, 2016

The German-Russian Relationship: It’s Complicated

By Andreas Umland

There’s a growing perception in Germany that the Minsk ceasefire agreements may never be implemented and the conflict in Ukraine will continue to grind on. To examine the origins and nature of the conflict as well as its possible solution and the role Bavaria may play in these affairs, the German-Ukrainian NGO Kyiv Dialogue held […]

Germany Russia

UkraineAlert

Sep 6, 2016

How Xi and Putin Humiliated Obama at the G-20

By Anders Åslund

On September 4-5, the G-20 held its annual summit in Hangzhou, China, President Xi Jinping’s home. G-20 summits tend to be meaningless, but this one appears to have been outright harmful. The signature event was when President Barack Obama’s Air Force One was not met with a staircase, and it went downhill from there. During […]

China Russia

UkraineAlert

Sep 6, 2016

The Top Ten Things Ukraine’s Parliament Needs to Do This Fall

By Olena Halushka

Over the last two and a half years, Ukraine has channeled the energy of the Euromaidan protests into building a new state, and has achieved a number of major accomplishments. However, much more remains be done. The delay in implementing crucial reforms is equivalent to stopping halfway, while the slow rate of change is already […]

Ukraine