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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 7, 2021

Biden faces further battle over Putin’s pipeline

By
Diane Francis

President Biden’s efforts to strike a deal with Germany over Putin’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline are encountering fresh opposition as the Kremlin underlines its readiness to use energy supplies as a geopolitical weapon.


Geopolitics & Energy Security


Germany


UkraineAlert

Jul 7, 2021

Escape from empire: Ukraine’s post-Soviet national awakening

By
Taras Kuzio

The evolution of Ukrainian national identity since 1991 has had repercussions far beyond Ukraine’s borders that have transformed the geopolitical climate and plunged the world into a new Cold War.


Conflict


Education


UkraineAlert

Jul 6, 2021

National Bank of Ukraine prioritizes green finance

By
Kyrylo Shevchenko

The National Bank of Ukraine's recently updated strategy document identifies green finance as a key focus for the institution in the coming years as NBU officials look to further Ukraine's European integration.


Climate Change & Climate Action


Energy & Environment


UkraineAlert

Jul 6, 2021

UKRAINE AT 30: Europe’s frontline democracy

By
Brian Mefford

Ukrainians will celebrate 30 years of independence in summer 2021 with their country serving as the frontline of European democracy following three decades of tumultuous change.


Democratic Transitions


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jul 5, 2021

Could a judicial ombudsman help solve Ukraine’s rule of law problems?

By
Bate Toms

One possible solution to Ukraine's rule of law problems is the creation of a Judicial Ombudsman to act as a prosecutor and provide judicial oversight in line with the model successfully used in Sweden.


Corruption


Political Reform


UkraineAlert

Jul 1, 2021

The need for a renewed NATO

By
French Hill

As the principal military pillar of the transatlantic partnership, NATO is essential to meeting the security challenges America and her allies face. However, if it is to be effective, it must evolve. It has done so in the past, and it can do so now, argues Rep. French Hill.


Europe & Eurasia


NATO


UkraineAlert

Jun 30, 2021

For Ukrainians, Euro 2020 resonates beyond football

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine's success at the Euro 2020 European championship is about much more than football as the country struggles to defend itself against Russian imperial aggression and assert an independent identity.


Conflict


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Jun 27, 2021

Putin’s Crimean crackdown continues: Radio Free Europe journalist targeted

By
Diane Francis

Russia has arrested and jailed freelance Radio Free Europe journalist Vladislav Yesypenko in a prosecution that appears to be part of a broader Kremlin campaign against the US-funded media outlet.


Conflict


Human Rights


UkraineAlert

Jun 27, 2021

Ukraine’s Russia sanctions target Putin’s inner circle

By
Anders Åslund

Ukraine’s recently updated sanctions against Russia are the most comprehensive since 2014 and demonstrate that the Ukrainian government understands the value of targeting people close to Vladimir Putin.


Conflict


Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion


UkraineAlert

Jun 25, 2021

British warship challenges Russian claims to Crimea

By
Peter Dickinson

A British warship sailed through Crimean waters on June 23 in what was widely seen as a reminder that the international community rejects Russia’s purported 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula.


Conflict


Maritime Security

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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

Jul 12, 2016

Ukraine’s Art Arsenal: Where Culture and Politics Crossed Swords

By Kateryna Smagliy

During his July 7 visit to Kyiv, US Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the United States will pour an additional $23 million in aid into Ukraine. Radiating sincerity, President Petro Poroshenko said this decision was a “vivid reflection of a deep trust that the United States has for Ukraine” as well as Ukraine’s […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 12, 2016

At Warsaw, NATO Agrees to Thwart Putin’s Revisionist Dreams

By John E. Herbst

NATO leaders finally demonstrated at the Warsaw Summit on July 8 and 9 that they understand the dangers of a revisionist Kremlin, and they approved significant measures to resist it. Unlike the Wales Summit in 2014, which noted that ISIS was an “existential threat to NATO” but made no similar claims about the marauding nuclear […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 11, 2016

Euromaidan Leaders Launch New Party in Ukraine. Can It Succeed?

By Adrian Karatnycky

As Europe lurches in the direction of populism, xenophobic anti-immigrant attitudes, and anti-EU posturing, Ukraine appears to be tilting the other way. Located largely outside European discourse for the last twenty-five years, Ukraine is now odd man out, with pro-EU sentiments running high, xenophobic attitudes largely absent, and not one but two initiatives under way […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 11, 2016

No Longer a Secret: Ukraine is Europe’s New Frontier Market

By James Brooke

American, Canadian, and European Investors Quietly Descend on Kyiv Chestnut trees shade the streets, restaurants colonize sidewalks with “summer verandas,” and hemlines rise with the temperatures. Yes, it is summer again in Kyiv. But this summer, this garden city is seeing a new, discreetly invasive species: American and European investors who believe Ukraine is turning […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 7, 2016

How Ukraine Can Better Treat the Invisible Wounds of War

By Danielle Johnson

Treating the “invisible wounds of war,” or psychological trauma, has become an important issue for international organizations in conflict zones. Ukraine is no exception. But the country is still learning how to best address this pressing mental health problem among combat veterans, internally displaced persons, and other vulnerable populations. Ukraine’s mental health professionals had little […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 7, 2016

Texan Makes Fortune in Ukraine’s Tech Sector

By Diane Francis

“If you play by the rules, you can do business in Ukraine.” Jason Mitura is an all-American guy who grew up in Dallas, Texas, but made his first fortune in Ukraine. His success is all the more noteworthy given that he speaks little Ukrainian. On a tip, he flew to Kyiv for the first time […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 6, 2016

Europe’s Forgotten War: Fighting in the Donbas Has Never Stopped

By James J. Coyle

Despite the existence of a ceasefire agreement, fighting in eastern Ukraine continues and is increasing. On July 5, three Ukrainian servicemen were killed and thirteen were wounded. The uptick in fighting began this past January, when Ukrainian officials reported up to seventy-one attacks a day and the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission noted the return of […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 5, 2016

Could Ukraine’s New Civil Service Law Be Undermined?

By Josh Cohen

In a major achievement for reformers, Ukraine’s parliament passed a revolutionary new civil service law last year that included key provisions related to the appointment of heads of local state administrations (LSAs). But if some members of parliament and perhaps even the presidential administration have their way, those elements of the law could soon be […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 1, 2016

Worried About Brexit? No, Scared, Says Ukraine’s Former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk

By Melinda Haring

“I’m not worried [about Brexit]. I’m scared,” said Arseniy Yatsenyuk at the Atlantic Council on June 30. In one of his first public appearances in Washington since stepping down as Ukraine’s prime minister on April 14, Yatsenyuk urged Europe to get its act together. Brexit, he said, is a “huge geopolitical crisis”: the United Kingdom’s […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 29, 2016

Now Is Not the Time to Scrap the Minsk Agreement

By John E. Herbst

A Reply to David J. Kramer Editor’s Note: On June 22, Ambassador John Herbst and David J. Kramer debated whether we should bury the Minsk agreement, the troubled ceasefire agreement in Ukraine, at an Atlantic Council event in Washington, DC. Their remarks have been adapted from the debate. Ukraine’s discussion of the war with Russia […]

Germany OSCE