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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

Nov 18, 2020

Mayoral races in Ukraine: City-by-city runoff preview

By
Brian Mefford

Ukrainians will vote this weekend to elect mayors in a number of big cities across the country as the current local election cycle comes to a close with incumbents heavily favored to do well.


Elections


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Nov 17, 2020

Ukraine can learn from Azerbaijan’s recent victory

By
Taras Kuzio

Azerbaijan’s recent victory over Armenia offers some potentially important lessons for Ukraine, which is home to the most recent of the many little wars to erupt amid the ruins of the Soviet Empire.


Conflict


Security & Defense


UkraineAlert

Nov 16, 2020

Coronavirus crisis exposes Ukraine’s healthcare failures

By
Brian Mefford

The secondary phase of Ukraine's landmark healthcare reforms is being neglected by the government as the country suffers from faltering leadership in the fight against the coronavirus crisis.


Coronavirus


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Nov 14, 2020

What can Ukraine expect from a Biden presidency?

By
Peter Dickinson

Joe Biden's US presidential election victory was welcomed by many Ukrainians who felt that bilateral ties had suffered during the Trump presidency despite continued bipartisan US support for Ukraine.


Conflict


Elections


UkraineAlert

Nov 13, 2020

Ukrainian local elections: City-by-city guide to this weekend’s runoff votes

By
Brian Mefford

On November 15, Ukrainians will vote in mayoral runoff contests in six major cities in the second round of the country's local elections. Here is a rundown of what to expect from this Sunday's ballot.


Elections


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Nov 12, 2020

Shevchenko silences critics: Ukraine’s finest ever player earns respect as a manager

By
Mark Temnycky

Andriy Shevchenko is one of Ukraine's most celebrated footballers but few expected much when he was appointed as national team manager in 2016. Shevchenko has since proved his doubters wrong.


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Nov 11, 2020

Putin’s Karabakh victory sparks alarm in Ukraine

By
Anders Åslund

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to have achieved a significant victory in Nagorno-Karabakh that promises to alter the geopolitical balance throughout the former Soviet space in his favor.


Conflict


Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding


UkraineAlert

Nov 9, 2020

Ukraine will never reform until oligarchs lose power

By
Serhiy Verlanov

A counter-revolution is currently underway in Ukraine that highlights the difficulties of achieving genuine change in a society which is still dominated by a small group of extremely wealthy and influential oligarchs.


Corruption


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Nov 9, 2020

LGBTQ rights in Ukraine and the false dawn of Zelenskyy

By
Bogdan Globa

Today’s Ukraine finds itself in an increasingly homophobic neighborhood with a president whose approach to LGBTQ issues has so far failed to match his liberal rhetoric on the subject.


Human Rights


Resilience & Society


UkraineAlert

Nov 8, 2020

Why a Biden presidency is very good news for Ukraine

By
Anders Åslund

After Joe Biden’s US presidential election victory was declared, President Zelenskyy was one of the first foreign leaders to congratulate him. He was wise to do so. Ukraine has much to gain from a Biden presidency, as does Zelenskyy personally.


Conflict


Democratic Transitions

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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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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

UkraineAlert

Oct 13, 2016

Will the West Ever Stand Up to Putin?

By Hanna Hopko

German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested that the Normandy Four—leaders from France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine—gather on October 19 to discuss the war in Ukraine. But this is premature. Nothing will come out of this meeting without a detailed roadmap for a real ceasefire and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s adherence to fully implement the Minsk agreements.

Russia Syria

UkraineAlert

Oct 13, 2016

Natalie Jaresko Says $25 Billion More Needed to Make Ukraine’s Reforms Irreversible

By Melinda Haring

Fatigue, Vested Interests, and Populism Threaten Ukraine’s “Longest and Most Successful” Reform Process “There’s no country in the world that has been in such dire circumstances and yet turned around the economy in such a short period of time,” said Natalie Jaresko, who served as Ukraine’s Finance Minister from December 2014 to April 2016. She […]

Russia Ukraine