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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

Apr 21, 2020

Ban on farmland sales to foreigners risks starving Ukraine of investment

By
Bate Toms

Ukraine has recently moved to end a two-decade ban on the sale of farmland, but restrictions on purchases by foreigners will remain in place and threaten to block a key source of international investment.


Economy & Business


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 21, 2020

Ukraine cannot stay neutral in Putin’s history war

By
Oleksiy Goncharenko

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has sought to enforce his version of history on Ukraine as part of efforts to dominate the country. It is time for Ukraine to fight back and establish its own national narratives.


Russia


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 21, 2020

Coronavirus proves what Ukrainians already knew—the UN doesn’t work

By
Pavlo Klimkin and Andreas Umland

The coronavirus crisis has left the United Nations badly exposed. This has not come as a surprise to many in Ukraine, where distrust of the UN has been strong since the start of Russian aggression in 2014.


Coronavirus


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 16, 2020

Coronavirus pandemic: Ukraine flies to the rescue

By
Alyona Getmanchuk

Ukrainian cargo planes are currently delivering vital anti-coronavirus medical supplies from China to NATO member countries, underlining Ukraine's value as a strategic partner of the Euro-Atlantic community.


Coronavirus


NATO


UkraineAlert

Apr 15, 2020

Russian Church in Ukraine fuels coronavirus outbreak

By
Victor Tregubov

The Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine has emerged as a key source of coronavirus infection in the country over the past week after church officials refused to follow government lock down guidelines.


Coronavirus


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 14, 2020

Zelenskyy puts Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution on trial

By
Adrian Karatnycky

Criminal charges against prominent Ukrainian activist Tetyana Chornovol represent a watershed moment in the country's modern history that risks putting Ukraine's entire Maidan Revolution on trial.


Democratic Transitions


Rule of Law


UkraineAlert

Apr 13, 2020

Why appeasing Putin in Ukraine won’t work

By
Paul D’Anieri

Western leaders are eager for a deal to end the undeclared war between Russia and Ukraine, but any attempt to appease Putin risks encouraging further imperial aggression, writes Paul D’Anieri.


Conflict


Politics & Diplomacy


UkraineAlert

Apr 13, 2020

Does Zelenskyy’s Ukraine still want to join NATO?

By
Tetiana Gaiduk

Since the onset of Russian aggression in 2014, Ukraine has pursued closer ties with NATO. However, recent changes at the Ministry of Defense have raised concerns over Ukraine's continued commitment to NATO integration.


NATO


NATO Partnerships


UkraineAlert

Apr 10, 2020

Breadbasket Ukraine must not prohibit grain exports

By
Anders Åslund

Ukrainian policymakers are reportedly discussing the prohibition of grain exports. This could have a disastrous impact on the economy while also damaging ties with Ukraine's international partners.


International Financial Institutions


Trade and tariffs


UkraineAlert

Apr 8, 2020

Beyond east versus west: Ukraine must go global

By
Viktor Karvatskyy

The coronavirus crisis is a globally disruptive event that gives Ukraine an opportunity to rethink the country's geopolitical trajectory and move beyond the traditional foreign policy of east versus west.


Politics & Diplomacy


Ukraine

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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.

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

Oct 21, 2015

Battle to End Pharma Corruption Makes Progress, Needs Push

By Josh Cohen

As the ceasefire in the Donbas takes hold, Ukraine can now face its other existential threat: the endemic corruption that threatens the country’s long-term stability and prosperity. While graft within the Ukrainian government is widespread, corruption is perhaps most threatening in the area of government procurement. Public procurement corruption costs Kyiv billions, with as much […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 21, 2015

Ukrainians Face Another Election Headache

By Irena Chalupa

People are more important than political interests. This party will never betray you. Fair wages and pensions. People, not politicians. Let’s unite for Ukraine! Order and justice. These are just a few of the messages blaring at Kyiv residents from billboards. Ukraine’s capital is awash with campaign tents manned by students and retirees wearing smocks […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 20, 2015

“No Fighting” in Ukraine Is Not “Peace”

By Aaron Korewa

The main problem with the West’s approach to Russian President Vladimir Putin is that it doesn’t seem to know who it’s dealing with. In an excellent article in Foreign Policy, Raymond Tanter states the bleatingly obvious—the Russian leader is nothing but a bully and should be treated as such. While the United States and Europe […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2015

Europe’s Refugee Crisis Shows Ukraine’s Resilience

By Colin Cleary

Ukraine Has Absorbed 1.5 Million Displaced; Soon It Must Employ Them With Europe awash in more than a half-million refugees from Middle Eastern and other wars, it might be easy to overlook Ukraine’s response to its own population—nearly three times the size, at 1.5 million—displaced by the Russian-backed war in the east. More than 18 […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2015

Ukrainians Eager to Go to Polls

By Brian Mefford

In less than a week, Ukrainians go to the polls to elect mayors, city councils, and regional councils, and they’re eager to do so. A recent poll carried out by the International Republican Institute found that 75 percent of Ukrainians are very likely or somewhat likely to vote on October 25. A new law requires […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2015

Ukraine Can Beat Its Political Corruption

By Anders Åslund

Ukraine’s politics suffer from a vicious circle of corruption. Its elections are extremely expensive. Large amounts of gray and black funds are needed to finance them. Criminals, called gray cardinals, handle this black financing, extracted from the state treasury and state companies. To corrupt all, the gray cardinals and their political allies insist on tiny […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 15, 2015

New Movie Reveals Russia’s Attempts to Destroy Ukraine

By Diane Francis

Ukraine is a nation interrupted, its identity and promise stolen by invaders and predators for centuries. Ukraine’s principle oppressor has been, and remains, Russia where leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin propagate the fiction that Ukraine is “little Russia.” But the two are distinctive and the Ukrainian language is as different from Russian as is […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 14, 2015

Why Crimea’s Blockade is Necessary

By Maksym Bugriy

Since September 20, Crimean Tatar activists and other protesters—mostly from Right Sector—have been blockading the flow of goods from mainland Ukraine to Crimea. The Kyiv government has neither formally supported nor criticized the move. The reaction among analysts, observers, and bloggers has been mixed—from enthusiasm to caution and even downright criticism.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 14, 2015

Made in Moscow: Religious Freedom Abuses Continue in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine

By Mary Ann Glendon and Katrina Lantos Swett

“We cannot stand by when the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a nation is flagrantly violated,” US President Barack Obama said on September 28 at the UN General Assembly. He was condemning Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its aggressive moves in eastern Ukraine. Much of the world has decried these acts and their most visible […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 14, 2015

For Decentralization to Work, Reformers Must Support Legislation for Strong Local Governance

By Joshua Solomon

As the August 31 grenade attacks, rioting, and violent protests at Ukraine’s Parliament—the Verkhovna Rada—demonstrated quite literally, the Ukrainian decentralization effort is an explosive issue. Constitutional amendments granting local communities greater governing responsibilities have sparked widespread criticism, both in Ukraine and in the West. Some warn that the new system will excessively empower the president […]

Ukraine