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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 5, 2021

Here to dine in Kyiv

By
Melinda Haring

Looking for a quick foodie holiday? The food in Ukraine is by turns inventive and inexpensive, creative, and delicious.


Civil Society


Ukraine


BelarusAlert

Aug 4, 2021

Belarus dissident death in Ukraine fuels fears over Lukashenka death squads

By
Brian Whitmore

The suspicious death of exiled Belarus dissident Vital Shyshou in Kyiv this week is fueling speculation over dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka's use of death squads to eliminate political opponents across Europe.


Belarus


Non-Traditional Threats


UkraineAlert

Aug 3, 2021

The next hot food destination is Ukraine

By
Melinda Haring

It's only a matter of time before foodies the world over discover these gems in Ukraine.


Civil Society


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jul 27, 2021

Is Putin’s next big chance to take Ukraine now?

By
Mark Temnycky

With the world distracted by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is anyone paying attention to Ukraine's East? Distractions favor Putin, and he's taken advantage of nearly every major sporting event of the last 14 years to stun the world.


Conflict


Crisis Management


UkraineAlert

Jul 27, 2021

More backsliding in Kyiv

By
Andrew D’Anieri

President Zelenskyy's exemption of infrastructure projects from standard tender procedures and oversight is a setback for reform. Yet the move has sparked necessary conversations on how to improve public procurement in Ukraine.


Corruption


Economy & Business


President Biden and Chancellor Merkel at a press conference at the White House.

UkraineAlert

Jul 27, 2021

Why is Biden letting Putin win?

By
Diane Francis

Russia and Germany, enabled by a distracted and increasingly isolationist United States, trample Europe and ignore the wishes of Central and Eastern European and Baltic nation-states. What does the White House think it’s doing?


Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion


Geopolitics & Energy Security


UkraineAlert

Jul 20, 2021

Infrastructure cooperation could hold the key to Armenia’s future security

By
Ani Yeghiazaryan

As the South Caucasus looks to move on following last year's Nagorno-Karabakh War, shared infrastructure projects could help foster greater regional stability and improve the chances for a sustainable peace.


Geopolitics & Energy Security


Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding


UkraineAlert

Jul 18, 2021

UKRAINE AT 30: Andriy Shevchenko’s three decades as unofficial ambassador

By
Peter Dickinson

No Ukrainian has done more to raise the country's international profile that footballer Andriy Shevchenko, who has been quite simply the most famous Ukrainian in the world since the early years of independence.


Resilience & Society


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jul 18, 2021

Ukraine takes a big step towards judicial reform

By
Olena Halushka and Tetiana Shevchuk

Ukraine took a big step towards judicial reform on July 13 when MPs adopted laws that establish credible foundations for the reboot of the country’s deeply compromised legal system.


Civil Society


Corruption


UkraineAlert

Jul 18, 2021

Ukraine’s faltering efforts to privatize state-owned banks

By
Mark Savchuk

The Ukrainian government is committed to reducing its estimated 55% stake in the country's banking system by overseeing the privatization of state-owned banks, but progress remains painfully slow.


Economy & Business


Financial Regulation

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

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