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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

Jan 20, 2021

US targets Putin’s pipelines from Baltic Sea to Balkans

By
Diane Francis

Washington’s attention has recently focused on Nord Stream 2, but US officials also face similar challenges in Southern Europe, where Russia is once again using energy to advance its geopolitical interests.


Eastern Europe


Geopolitics & Energy Security


UkraineAlert

Jan 20, 2021

Why Ukraine’s business community has high hopes for the Biden presidency

By
Andy Hunder

Many Ukrainians are optimistic that incoming US President Joe Biden can play an historic role in helping Ukraine complete the country's post-Soviet transition and free itself once and for all from oligarch control.


Democratic Transitions


Politics & Diplomacy


UkraineAlert

Jan 19, 2021

Ukraine’s cultural revival is a matter of national security

By
Marina Pesenti

Culture and identity have been at the heart of the hybrid war waged by Russia against Ukraine for the past seven years.


Disinformation


Nationalism


UkraineAlert

Jan 19, 2021

Russia’s Crimean crimes demand tougher sanctions

By
Maria Tomak

Ukrainian civic society activists are calling on the international community to introduce personal sanctions against officials guilty of human rights abuses in Russian-occupied Crimea.


Civil Society


Human Rights


UkraineAlert

Jan 19, 2021

Ukraine’s roadmap to an artificial intelligence future

By
Vitaliy Goncharuk

Ukraine has recently adopted a National AI Development Strategy for the coming decade that aims to integrate artificial intelligence technologies into every sphere of the Ukrainian economy.


Defense Technologies


Education


UkraineAlert

Jan 14, 2021

Putin’s war drives Ukraine towards true independence

By
Peter Dickinson

Thirty years since the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine is no longer part of Vladimir Putin's informal empire but the country continues to struggle with the legacy of centuries spent under Russian domination.


Conflict


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Jan 14, 2021

Ukraine raised the alarm over weaponized social media long before Trump’s twitter ban

By
Victor Tregubov

Tech giant Twitter's decision to block the account of US President Donald Trump has sparked a global free speech debate, but Ukraine has been warning for years about the dangers of weaponized social media.


Media


Non-Traditional Threats


UkraineAlert

Jan 12, 2021

Climate change may prevent Ukraine from becoming an agricultural superpower

By
Anna Ackermann

Kyiv's record-breaking weather in 2020 was further evidence of a changing climate that threatens to undermine Ukraine's emergence as an agricultural superpower and key player in global food security.


Climate Change & Climate Action


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jan 11, 2021

US sanctions Giuliani-linked Ukrainians over Russian bid to influence 2020 election

By
Anders Åslund

The US Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on seven Ukrainians who stand accused of meddling in the recent American presidential election campaign on behalf of Russia.


Elections


Russia


UkraineAlert

Jan 9, 2021

Russia remains unwilling to end seven-year Ukraine war

By
Oleksii Reznikov

Ukraine has repeatedly demonstrated its readiness to make compromises in order to secure peace with Russia but Moscow has so far refused to reciprocate, argues Ukraine's Deputy PM Oleksii Reznikov.


Conflict


Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

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

Jun 13, 2016

Ukraine’s Oligarchs May Own the Media, but Public Broadcasting Is Shaking Things Up

By Roman Shutov

Last year, after years of debate and lobbying on the issue, public broadcasting was established in Ukraine. In a country suffering from a serious crisis of trust in the media, it looked like a chance to regain people’s faith. The dramatic decline in citizens’ trust in media started in 2014, when central Ukrainian TV channels […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 8, 2016

Ukraine’s Next Big Reform You Haven’t Heard of Yet

By Michael Druckman

Ukraine watchers know all too well that for every success reported about the country, there are numerous setbacks. Yet there are encouraging signs currently occurring within the reform process, particularly at the local level. Perhaps the most successful reform is quietly taking place outside of Kyiv, and has the potential to reinvigorate civic participation, address […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 7, 2016

Civil Society Gives Ukraine’s New Prime Minister Positive Marks

By Josh Cohen

During almost eight weeks in office, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman has inspired largely negative reactions from Western analysts. Noting Groisman’s close relationship with President Petro Poroshenko, observers fret the young prime minister will merely function as a yes-man. His appointment was variously described as “same old, same old,” “not the best choice,” and an […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 7, 2016

The Savchenko Effect

By Brian Mefford

The release from a Russian prison and return of helicopter pilot Nadiya Savchenko to Ukraine has ignited speculation about her future political plans. Elected as the first candidate on the party list of Yulia Tymoshenko’s bloc in the October 2014 parliamentary elections, Savchenko immediately entered politics upon her return to Ukraine. Savchenko’s initial speeches focused […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 7, 2016

Ukraine Defies Anti-Semitic Stereotypes

By Alina Polyakova

Confronting a difficult history is no easy matter, particularly in Ukraine—a country caught between murderous regimes throughout the twentieth century. In his book Bloodlands, Yale historian Timothy Snyder places Ukraine at the center of a region where more than 14 million “non-combatants” were ruthlessly killed by the competing geopolitical goals of Adolf Hitler and Joseph […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 6, 2016

Ten Reasons to Invest in Ukraine

By Anders Åslund

Those who have invested in Ukraine so far have not been very happy with their return. At present, Ukraine’s gross domestic product is about $85 billion, approximately one-eighth of Poland’s GDP. The return on investment has been in proportion to that. Will things change? You can never be sure, but like before, Ukraine holds great […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 2, 2016

Don’t Celebrate Ukraine’s New Judicial Changes Yet

By Halya Coynash

Ukraine’s parliament has ignored warnings from human rights organizations and the Reanimation Package of Reforms and passed constitutional amendments and a bill on the judicial system which retain the old ways of exerting influence on judges. There was enormous pressure for judicial reform, and many of the changes are needed. The warnings, however, highlight real […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 1, 2016

Ukraine Needs to Stop Dragging its Feet on Privatization

By Aivaras Abromavičius

State-owned enterprises remain Ukraine’s Achilles’ heel. They are where political corruption spirals out of control with cronyism and backroom deals, and it is time to put an end to it. Privatization is the only real solution. No one has ever been popular by selling state assets and the timing is never right. Yet these companies […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 31, 2016

A Saakashvili Party Comeback? Not in Georgia but Maybe in Ukraine

By Brian Mefford

Odesa Oblast Governor Mikheil Saakashvili is preparing for the launch of his political party later this year in Ukraine, but this has not prevented him from pondering a return to politics in his native Georgia. Georgian voters go to the polls on October 8 to elect a new parliament in a contest viewed as a […]

The Caucasus Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 31, 2016

Exposing Russia’s False NATO Narrative

By Stephen Blank

A staple of Russian, pro-Russian, and so-called realist narratives is that NATO not only reneged on its promises to not enlarge after German reunification, it also rebuffed all Russian efforts to integrate with the organization. To paraphrase Ernest Hemingway, it is pretty to think so—but that is not the truth. As Mikhail Gorbachev himself said, […]

NATO Russia