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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 17, 2022

Ukraine has a Russia problem not a Putin problem

By
Taras Kuzio

Ukraine appears poised to defeat Putin's invasion but Russia will continue to pose an existential threat to Ukrainian statehood until Russians learn to accept that Ukraine is a sovereign and independent nation.


Conflict


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Oct 17, 2022

Putin’s blackout blitz: Russia aims to freeze Ukrainians into surrender

By
Suriya Evans-Pritchard Jayanti

Russia is seeking to plunge Ukraine into darkness ahead of the winter heating season by destroying the country's energy infrastructure. Ukraine's partners must step in to make sure Ukrainians are not frozen into surrender.


Conflict


Energy Markets & Governance


UkraineAlert

Oct 13, 2022

Meet the Ukrainian TV star fundraising millions for the country’s war effort

By
Oleksii Antoniuk, Andrew D’Anieri

TV host Serhiy Prytula is being tipped by many as a rising star of Ukrainian politics but for now he is fully occupied in his current role leading crowdfunding efforts for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Oct 12, 2022

No, Russia’s airstrike escalation is not retaliation for the Crimean Bridge

By
Razom Advocacy Team

International media coverage depicting Russia's recent airstrike escalation as retaliation for the alleged Ukrainian attack on the Crimean Bridge risks creating false equivalency over Vladimir Putin's war of aggression.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Oct 11, 2022

Russia’s terror tactics: Putin escalates attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets

By
Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin has launched a new phase of his Ukraine invasion and ordered the destruction of the country's civilian infrastructure. Ukraine's Western partners must urgently provide air defense systems to avert disaster.


Conflict


Geopolitics & Energy Security


UkraineAlert

Oct 11, 2022

Six things you (yes, you!) can do now to help Ukraine

By
Melinda Haring

With the winter season fast approaching and Vladimir Putin launching a campaign against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, it is more important than ever to maintain support for Ukraine. Melinda Haring has some ideas.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Oct 9, 2022

Ukraine and Moldova move to disarm Vladimir Putin’s energy weapon

By
Aura Sabadus

With the winter heating season now underway, Ukraine and neighboring Moldova both continue to make progress toward reducing dependence on Russian gas and disarming Vladimir Putin's energy weapon.


Conflict


European Union


UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2022

The United States will also benefit from Ukraine’s European integration

By
Dmytro Lyvch, Yuliia Shaipova

As Ukrainian troops continue to liberate their country from Russian occupation, a consensus is emerging that the future stability of the continent will depend on Ukraine’s further integration into the European Union.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2022

Vladimir Putin has little reason to celebrate on his seventieth birthday

By
Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin marks his seventieth birthday on October 7 but the Russian ruler has little reason to celebrate as his disastrous Ukraine invasion continues to unravel leaving Russia increasingly internationally isolated.


Central Asia


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Oct 6, 2022

Ukraine’s top NATO priority should be weapons, not fast-track membership

By
Steven Pifer

Ukraine's recent application for fast-track NATO accession is unlikely to receive the necessary backing from alliance members but appeals for more weapons would pay dividends for Kyiv, writes Steven Pifer.


Conflict


European Union

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Content

UkraineAlert

Sep 15, 2015

A Rock Star, The Donald, and Former Presidents All Agree: Ukraine’s Fate Matters to World

By John E. Herbst

Kyiv is famous for its golden Septembers, clear, cool days, where the sun shines brightly on the city’s many golden cupolas. The weather did not disappoint Ukrainian businessman Victor Pinchuk and the distinguished crowd at his 12th Yalta European Strategy Summit (YES) on September 10-12 in Kyiv. The summit was an impressive mix of glitz […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 11, 2015

Memo to GOP Presidential Candidates: Bust Three Myths About Ukraine

By Jeffrey Gedmin

Forces hostile to US interests are filling vacuums around the world. It’s Islamic State and Iran in the Middle East. It’s a rising China in East Asia. It’s a bullying, belligerent Russia in Eastern Europe.  How to reverse the fraying world order? On September 16, Republican presidential candidates will meet for a second debate, this […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 9, 2015

Reforms Will Succeed, But They Alone Won’t Save Ukraine

By Andreas Umland

Will Ukraine make it? Conditions necessary for Ukraine’s current reform drive to succeed look more promising than they did in 2013. Not only does Ukraine now have its most pro-European parliament and reform-oriented government since independence in 1991; it’s also seen at least four other significant shifts in domestic politics that, taken together, render any […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 9, 2015

Russia from Ukraine to Syria: Helping the Cat Down the Tree

By Ariel Cohen

Russia’s military involvement in Syria and Ukraine obligates the United States and its European allies to bring the Kremlin back to Earth and recognize that such adventures cannot be sustained indefinitely. Russia simply does not have the money and human resources to do so in view of low oil prices and birth rates. It will […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 8, 2015

Kremlin Uses Minsk Protocol to Undermine Ukraine Government

By Alina Polyakova

In peacetime, September 1 is an eventful day for Ukrainian children—it marks the first day of school. But the war in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, now in its second year, has put a dark stain on this usually festive occasion. This year, Ukrainian kids in Kyiv started school following violent protests outside Parliament. On August […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 2, 2015

Mr. Lavrov Builds His Dream World

By Adrian Karatnycky

Each summer, as part of ongoing efforts to influence their young, Russia’s government leaders and propagandists head to a conference center on the Klyazma River about 130 miles northeast of Moscow to address the “Terra Scientia” Russian Youth Education Conference. Despite its lofty name, the conference bears little trace of free inquiry. Over the course […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

Sep 2, 2015

In the Face of Russian Aggression in Ukraine, a New US Agenda for Europe

By Stephen Blank

Since the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, the world has seen precious little Western leadership when it comes to confronting Russian President Vladimir Putin—despite US and European Union sanctions, recent efforts to strengthen NATO’s conventional deterrence in Europe, and the first signs of increased defense spending in Europe. Even in the face of plans to send […]

NATO Russia

UkraineAlert

Sep 1, 2015

Frozen Conflict in Moldova’s Transnistria: A Fitting Analogy to Ukraine’s Hybrid War?

By Sergiy Gerasymchuk

History is a great teacher, so it’s no surprise that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and his subsequent Kremlin speech justifying it brought back memories of the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland in 1938. Parallels between Hitler and Putin abound, as do their motivations and the eventual global impact of the two […]

Moldova Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 31, 2015

Outflows of ‘Hot Money’ Exacerbate Europe’s Growing Refugee Crisis

By Diane Francis

The recent collapse in stock markets and the sudden flow of refugees into Europe led world headlines in August—in a convergence of phenomena that are closely linked. Unprecedented flows of hot, or illicit, money are damaging most economies, causing both investors and migrants to flee. Ironically, China has outperformed all other economies, even though it […]

UkraineAlert

Aug 30, 2015

Lviv Welcomes Crimean Tatar Community With Open Arms

By Matthew Kupfer

The Russian annexation of Crimea in March 2014 is widely regarded as a tragedy for Crimean Tatars. But for Adile Namazova, it was also a professional catastrophe. A recent university graduate with near flawless English, Namazova, 22, had been working as a language tutor before annexation. But once Crimea changed hands, travelers stopped coming, food […]

Ukraine