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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 6, 2020

Can new legislation revive Ukraine’s defense reforms?

By
Serhiy Piontkovsky

Ukraine's defense industry has become a major source of state spending since the onset of hostilities with Russia in 2014, but corruption allegations have been a problem. Can new legislation revive reform efforts?


Defense Policy


Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Aug 4, 2020

From Russian war to European opportunity: Reinventing eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region

By
Oleksii Reznikov

Putin has place eastern Ukraine's Donbas region at the heart of his "Russian World" mythology, but in reality the region has a cosmopolitan heritage that could help to inspire a new era of European investment.


Conflict


Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Aug 3, 2020

How to overcome Ukraine’s IT industry brain drain

By
Bill Brown

Ukraine’s booming IT industry is fueling the country's economic growth. The future of the sector depends on creating a professional climate that will convince talented young Ukrainian IT professionals to stay.


Entrepreneurship


Internet


UkraineAlert

Aug 3, 2020

For Ukraine, endless Putin means endless hybrid war

By
Mark Temnycky

Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent constitutional amendments will allow him to extend his reign until 2036. This undermines faint hopes for an end to the six-year Russo-Ukrainian War.


Conflict


Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Aug 1, 2020

Kyiv names street in honor of journalist who exposed Stalin’s Ukrainian genocide

By
Peter Dickinson

Kyiv City Council has confirmed plans to name a street in the Ukrainian capital in honor of British journalist Gareth Jones, who first brought news of Stalin's 1933 Ukrainian genocide to international audiences.


Disinformation


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jul 30, 2020

The coronavirus crisis and statelessness in Ukraine

By
Andrew D’Anieri

For the estimated 35,000 stateless people living in Ukraine, access to even the most basic resources like food, medicine, and hygienic products, has been all but cut off due to the coronavirus pandemic.


Coronavirus


Human Rights


UkraineAlert

Jul 29, 2020

Hard political realities threaten Ukraine’s soft power ambitions

By
Marina Pesenti

The Ukrainian Institute was established in 2018 in order to make the most of the country's untapped soft power potential, but this cultural diplomacy initiative faces numerous political and bureaucratic obstacles.


Civil Society


Politics & Diplomacy


UkraineAlert

Jul 28, 2020

Zelenskyy’s bad economics: Inflation and devaluation will not help Ukraine grow

By
Anders Åslund

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s policymakers are causing concern by flirting with the dangerous idea that high inflation and substantial currency devaluation can boost economic growth.


Democratic Transitions


Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Jul 27, 2020

“Mr. Jones” film exposes the fake news campaign behind Stalin’s Ukrainian genocide

By
Serhii Plokhii

"Mr. Jones" is an important historical drama that sheds long overdue light on Stalin's man-made famine in 1930's Ukraine. The famine killed millions but remains relatively unknown among international audiences.


Disinformation


Politics & Diplomacy


UkraineAlert

Jul 24, 2020

Ukraine’s anti-corruption efforts go up in smoke

By
Peter Dickinson

A July 23 arson attack on the home of leading Ukrainian anti-corruption activist Vitaliy Shabunin has sparked concerns over the country's continued commitment to reforms under President Zelenskyy.


Corruption


Democratic Transitions

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.

The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values, and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia, and Central Asia in the East.

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Content

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

UkraineAlert

Mar 2, 2016

Women of the Euromaidan: Where Were They Then and Where Are They Now

By Josh Cohen

As Kateryna Kruk walked among her fellow protesters in Kyiv’s central square while checking her phone during the early days of the Euromaidan in December 2013, she noticed an opportunity: Ukrainians shared news of the revolution almost entirely in Ukrainian or Russian. Inspired by the use of social media during the Arab Spring, Kruk started […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 29, 2016

The Real Fight for Ukraine’s Future

By Emmet Tuohy

As rain clouds sweep in from the west on a winter morning, the Ukrainian Black Sea town of Mykolayiv does not present the most welcoming picture. Up to three feet of standing water obscure the city’s main intersections, where stray dogs and homeless people rush to traverse four lanes of traffic before the next taxi […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 29, 2016

Early Elections in Ukraine Aren’t So Scary. Here’s Why

By Anders Åslund

The dominant view in Washington is that Ukraine must avoid early parliamentary elections. Many Ukrainians, however, see them as inevitable and ultimately they decide. Therefore, we need to discuss not if early parliamentary elections should be held, but instead how and when. Both the United States and the European Union reckon that Ukraine needs political […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 26, 2016

Ukraine’s Booming Tech Sector Gets International Attention Despite War

By Diane Francis

A plain Soviet-era office block squats on a residential street in the beautiful historic city of Lviv, Ukraine. The lobby is dimly lit and there is no seating, only a stern guard who points to the elevator to access local software engineering firm N-iX. The doors part and the offices are an orange and white […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 24, 2016

Remembering the Day Russia Invaded Ukraine

By John E. Herbst and Alina Polyakova

Two years ago on February 27, Russia invaded Ukraine. On the heels of the Euromaidan Revolution and the vicious sniper attacks that killed 103 Ukrainians, Russian President Vladimir Putin saw an opportunity and ordered the military takeover of Crimea. The operation began when Russian military personnel, disguised as little green men in unmarked uniforms, and […]

Ukraine