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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 23, 2021

Is Ukraine’s split from Russia now irreversible?

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s split from Russia ranks as one of the most consequential European events since the Soviet collapse. But is this geopolitical divorce now final, or could Moscow still force Kyiv back into Russia's orbit?


Conflict


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Aug 21, 2021

How modern Ukraine was made on Maidan

By
Peter Dickinson

Since 1991, Ukraine's two post-Soviet Maidan revolutions have helped define the country as an emerging democracy that seeks to escape from the orbit of authoritarian Russia and embrace Euro-Atlantic integration.


Civil Society


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Aug 19, 2021

Making the most of Ukraine’s tech talent

By
Constantine Yevtushenko

Ukraine's IT sector is playing an increasingly important role in the country's economic growth. The key now is to build the right ecosystem to allow Ukraine's tech talent to flourish, says Constantine Yevtushenko.


Digital Policy


Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Aug 19, 2021

Ukraine shines a spotlight on Putin’s Crimean crime

By
Peter Dickinson

Representations of forty countries are set to gather in Kyiv on August 23 for the inaugural Crimea Platform summit to address the ongoing Russian occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula.


Conflict


Russia


UkraineAlert

Aug 17, 2021

Biden and Merkel must confront Putin’s imperial ambitions in Ukraine

By
Peter Dickinson

Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent essay "On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians" argued that Russians and Ukrainians are "one people," but an overwhelming majority of Ukrainians do not agree.


Conflict


Disinformation


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

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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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Content

UkraineAlert

Mar 9, 2016

Ukraine’s New Political Law Privileges Party Bosses

By Brian Mefford

On February 16, the same day it almost approved no confidence in the government, Ukraine’s parliament successfully passed law #3700 on its eighteenth attempt. While the law was overshadowed by the controversy over the vote on the government, the legislation is the equivalent of a new “January 16th law” for Ukrainian politicians. What is a […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 9, 2016

What Nadiya Savchenko’s Example Can Teach the West

By Jeffrey Gedmin

March 5 marked the sixty-third anniversary of Joseph Stalin’s death. A friend texted me a photo of a poster from a Moscow bus shelter, a death mask of the Soviet dictator, captioned with the words: “That one died, this one will, too,” presumably a reference to Russia’s current ruler Vladimir Putin. There’s a certain sad […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 8, 2016

Will Ukraine’s Intrepid Female Pilot be Swapped for Russian Officers Held by Ukraine?

By Irena Chalupa

“Freedom does not have a price! I don’t believe anyone in Russia! I’m not afraid and I will not beg!”  These may be some of the last words that Nadiya Savchenko, Ukraine’s most famous political prisoner held by Russia, will speak. On March 3, the day her trial was scheduled to end and she was […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 8, 2016

The Church That Stalin Couldn’t Kill: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Thrives Seventy Years after Forced Reunification

By Nadia M. Diuk

Seventy years ago, on March 8-10, 1946, under orders from Josef Stalin, an illegal “synod” of Kremlin-controlled clergy gathered in the city of Lviv, recently absorbed into the Soviet Union as part of the settlement of World War II. The purpose of the gathering was to liquidate the independent existence of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 7, 2016

Why Does Putin Surprise Us Again and Again?

By Stephen Blank

From Great Britain to the Black Sea, Russia is waging a constant, unceasing information war against virtually every European government. This war takes many forms, but information war in essence entails what Peter Pomerantsev called the weaponization of information in the form of lies, misinformation, propaganda, exploitation of agents of influence, and reflexive actions inducing […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 7, 2016

Russia Declares War on Crimean Tatars

By Halya Coynash

Two years after invading and annexing Crimea, Russia appears ready to outlaw the Crimean Tatar Mejlis, the representative body of the largest indigenous people of the peninsula. The behavior which Russia deems “extremist” is essentially the Mejlis’ implacable, but always peaceful, opposition to Russia’s occupation. It is unclear whether Western countries will respond with more […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 7, 2016

Mother of Hunger-Striking Pilot Calls for Justice

By Melinda Haring

Editor’s Note: Ukrainian fighter pilot Nadiya Savchenko started a “dry” hunger strike on March 3 after Russian prosecutors requested a 23-year sentence for Savchenko. In 2014, Savchenko was captured by the pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas, transferred to Russia, where she was accused of involvement in the death of two Russian journalists. Savchenko’s mother Mariya […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 4, 2016

“You Have Not Defeated Me and You Never Will!” Ukrainian Fighter Pilot Nadiya Savchenko Tells Russian Court

By Alexei Sobchenko

Even for Russia, where everyday life can best be described as Kafkaesque, the case of Nadiya Savchenko is outrageous. In 2014, during the war in Ukraine’s Donbas, Savchenko, a Ukrainian military officer captured by the pro-Russian separatists in combat, was transferred to Russia, where she was accused of involvement in the death of two Russian […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 2, 2016

Early Elections in Ukraine Are Scarier Than You Think

By Adrian Karatnycky

Should Ukraine hold new elections? Despite the failure of Ukraine’s parliament to remove the government of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk from office on February 16, the defection of two parties from the governing coalition gives President Petro Poroshenko the ability to declare the absence of a majority coalition and force new elections. Western donors, including […]

European Union International Organizations

UkraineAlert

Mar 2, 2016

Two Cheers for Cold War!

By Alexander J. Motyl

Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev’s recent suggestion that Russia and the West are embroiled in cold war provoked hasty denials by Western policymakers and commentators. In fact, Medvedev was right: cold war between Russia and the West does exist. But the West’s denials were unnecessary, because cold war is the best possible option for its […]

Ukraine