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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 10, 2021

Europe’s energy crisis highlights dangers of reliance on Russia

By
Aura Sabadus

Russia stands accused of exploiting the current gas crisis in Europe as part of Kremlin efforts to strengthen Moscow's position in EU energy markets and push through certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.


European Union


Geopolitics & Energy Security


UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2021

Southern Ukraine’s Bessarabia is poised for a regional revival

By
Andrew D’Anieri

Rural Bessarabia in southwestern Ukraine is physically isolated from the rest of the country and has often been overlooked in national politics but is now undergoing an exciting regional revival.


Economy & Business


Infrastructure Protection


UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2021

Ukraine seeks peace with the past

By
Olesya Khromeychuk

Since becoming independent in 1991, Ukraine had been locked in relentless memory wars. Three decades on, the country may now be moving towards a new era marked by more meaningful commemoration of the troubled past.


Disinformation


Resilience & Society


UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2021

The EU must stop serving as a playground for corrupt Ukrainian oligarchs and officials

By
Daria Kaleniuk

If the EU is serious about helping Ukraine achieve a decisive break with the institutional corruption of the post-Soviet era, it must also stop serving as a playground for corrupt Ukrainian oligarchs and officials.


Corruption


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Oct 5, 2021

Saakashvili arrest overshadows Georgian ruling party’s election win

By
Peter Dickinson

Georgia’s ruling party Georgian Dream secured victory in October 2 local elections but the imprisonment of returning ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili leaves little realistic chance of an end to political tensions.


Elections


The Caucasus


UkraineAlert

Oct 4, 2021

Time to rethink Ukraine’s fight against corruption

By
Bohdan Vitvitsky

The ongoing struggle against corruption in Ukraine would benefit from greater coordination among the country's international partners and a longer term strategy, argues Bohdan Vitvitsky.


Corruption


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Oct 1, 2021

Europe is under attack from Putin’s energy weapon

By
Sergiy Makogon

Moscow's Nord Stream 2 pipeline has yet to enter service but Russian President Vladimir Putin is already being accused of weaponizing energy supplies and attempting to blackmail Europe with high gas prices.


European Union


Geopolitics & Energy Security


UkraineAlert

Sep 30, 2021

Europe’s new Russia policy must focus on human rights

By
Dave Elseroad, Nora Wehofsits

As the European Union looks to review and update its Russia policy, it is vital EU leaders focus on the growing human rights crisis that is threatening to spill over from Russia itself and undo the EU's own post-1991 progress.


Civil Society


European Union


UkraineAlert

Sep 29, 2021

How Ukraine can become a global IT powerhouse

By
Yegor Chernev

Ukraine already boasts one of the region's most dynamic IT industries but further work is required to improve the business climate in order to make the most of the country's considerable tech sector potential.


Digital Currencies


Digital Policy


BelarusAlert

Sep 29, 2021

Lukashenka vs. Ukraine

By
Brian Whitmore

Belarus dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka has accused NATO of establishing military bases in Ukraine and has vowed to respond together with Russian President Vladimir Putin.


Belarus


Conflict

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

Nov 18, 2015

Making Sense of Ukraine’s Local Elections: Voters Put Multiple Parties in Office

By Brian Mefford

As the ballots are counted in Ukraine’s November 15 runoff elections, the preliminary results show no national mandate or overarching themes. Instead, in a positive step for the country’s democratic development, voters dispersed power widely and put multiple political parties into office. Here’s a quick rundown of the big races and the big surprises: Kyiv: […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 17, 2015

Putin Transformed from Stubborn Holdout to Star at G20

By Anders Åslund

At the G-20 meeting in Antalya, Turkey, on November 16, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin proposed that Russia could restructure the $3 billion Eurobond that he lent former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in December 2013. It comes due on December 20. This was a sudden change of policy. Until that moment, the Kremlin had insisted on […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 16, 2015

The Economics of Rebellion in Eastern Ukraine

By Yuri M. Zhukov

New research demonstrates why the conflict has not spread beyond Donetsk and Luhansk In April 2014, angry mobs and armed men stormed administrative buildings and police stations in eastern Ukraine, waving Russian flags and proclaiming the establishment of “Peoples’ Republics” in Donetsk and Luhansk. At the time, some observers predicted that the “pro-Russian” uprising would […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 16, 2015

Winning Energy Battle Just as Important as Fight in Eastern Ukraine

By Andrian Prokip

The West has focused on Ukraine’s two existential crises: the war in the east and Ukraine’s troubled economy. It’s understandable, but now is the time for Ukraine to press hard on energy reform because Russia uses energy to exert influence over Ukraine and the energy sector has been a black hole of corruption in the […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 16, 2015

Slowly But Surely Kyiv Comes Around

By Alexander Motyl

How has Ukraine changed since the Euromaidan Revolution? In attempting to answer this question, I’ve used the governance-related categories in Freedom House’s Nations in Transit study, which tracks the reform record of post-Communist countries in Europe and Eurasia, and supplemented them with a few of my own. (Full disclosure: I’ve been involved in the Nations […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 11, 2015

Will Saakashvili’s Defeat in Odesa Be His Ukrainian Waterloo?

By Brian Mefford

Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov trounced Solidarity Party’s Sasha Borovik by 53-26 percent in Ukraine’s local elections October 25. Observers reported carousel voting, multiple voting lists, exit poll workers agitating for candidates, and a suspiciously slow vote count. The race for Odesa mayor was a proxy war between Oblast Governor Mikheil Saakashvili and oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi, […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 11, 2015

A Close (and Surprisingly Positive) Encounter with Odesa’s New Police

By Vladislav Davidzon

The reorganization and reform of Ukraine’s catastrophically corrupt police force was the top priority when President Petro Poroshenko appointed Eka Zguladze first deputy Interior Minister of Ukraine. Poroshenko wants to emulate the relative success that Georgia’s Rose Revolution reformers garnered in modernizing their small post-Soviet country. Zguladze is just one of the many Georgians who […]

The Caucasus Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 11, 2015

Failing on the Ukrainian Battlefield, Russia Turns to Terrorism

By Aaron Korewa

To understand how Russia conducts its foreign policy, simply look at what the Kremlin accuses everyone else of doing. Unlike the Soviet Union, which operated under a coherent ideology, the Russian government under President Vladimir Putin seems to believe that everybody is a cynical power player, and that the West is simply hypocritical about it. […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 10, 2015

Judiciary Reforms Take a Major Step Forward in Ukraine

By Joshua Solomon

As conflict flares up on Ukraine’s eastern front, a different campaign rages in the conference rooms of Kyiv. The administration of President Petro Poroshenko is overhauling the Ukrainian state, amending everything from the constitution to the tax code. The most important reform may be the creation of an independent judiciary. As Anders Åslund pointed out this […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 10, 2015

Expert Panel Identifies Ways to Defeat Corruption in Ukraine

By Larry Luxner

A top Citibank executive and one of Ukraine’s most popular rock stars were among five luminaries who offered their suggestions Monday for cleaning up the endemic corruption that has long strangled the Ukrainian economy and kept foreign investors away. The five appeared on a November 9 panel titled “Securing Ukraine’s Future: Winning the Fight Against […]

Ukraine