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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 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


UkraineAlert

Jun 24, 2021

Putin blames anyone but himself for loss of Ukraine

By
Peter Dickinson

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently published an op-ed accusing the US of staging an anti-Russian coup in Ukraine, but in reality nobody has done more to erode Russian influence in Ukraine than Putin himself.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jun 24, 2021

Ukraine offers hope in an increasingly homophobic neighborhood

By
Adrian Hoefer, Shelby Magid

While Ukrainian attitudes towards the LGBTQI community are still far behind the levels of acceptance encountered elsewhere in the West, Ukraine’s modest progress offers hope in a region where intolerance is on the rise.


Civil Society


Human Rights

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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

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

UkraineAlert

Nov 9, 2015

Ukraine Needs Responsible Public Finances Now

By Anders Åslund

With increasing surprise, I follow the Ukrainian discussion about public finances. Strangely, some prominent Ukrainians seem to think that taxes and public expenditures have no relationship to one another, arguing that public expenditures should be increased and taxes should be cut. But that is called populism, the disease Ukraine has suffered from since its independence […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 9, 2015

Justice Sector Is Central Battlefield in Struggle Between Old Ukraine and New Ukraine

By Geoffrey R. Pyatt

Editor’s note: US Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt gave remarks at the “Conference on Legal and Governance Reform,” sponsored by the US-Ukraine Business Council and Kyiv School of Economics on October 30, 2015 in Kyiv. Pyatt’s remarks have been shortened below. The full version is available here. What a difference a year makes. When we gathered […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 9, 2015

Putin’s Victories in Syria

By Stephen Blank

To the great British military analyst Basil Liddell-Hart, it was axiomatic that the purpose of war was a better peace. In other words, for military operations to be successful, they must be correlated with political outcomes and strategic gains. Unfortunately, the idea that the United States can successfully employ military power to achieve clear political […]

Russia Ukraine