Stay Updated

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

Jun 10, 2021

Ukraine must do more to regain the West’s trust

By
Kira Rudik

The coming week will underline the shortcomings of President Zelenskyy’s foreign policy, with Ukraine left on the sidelines as a series of crucial international summits take place that will directly impact the country’s future.


Corruption


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Jun 10, 2021

Ukraine poised for historic land market breakthrough

By
AJ Skiera

On July 1, 2021, Ukraine's new farmland market legislation will come into force, leading to real land ownership for around six million Ukrainians.


Corruption


Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Jun 10, 2021

Can Shevchenko bring Euro 2020 glory to Ukraine?

By
Andrew Todos

The scandal over Ukraine’s Euro 2020 national football team shirt has energized the Ukrainian public at a time when the increasingly self-confident country is enjoying a prolonged period of nation-building progress.


Ukraine


BelarusAlert

Jun 9, 2021

Axis of autocrats: Belarus dictator Lukashenka backs Putin’s Ukraine war

By
Brian Whitmore

The axis of autocrats in Eastern Europe continues to solidify as Belarus dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka bends over backwards to please Moscow by showing his support for Russia's war against Ukraine.


Belarus


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jun 8, 2021

Ukrainians fear betrayal over Putin’s pipeline

By
Diane Francis

The prospect of NATO and US-Russia summits in mid-June is creating anxiety in Ukraine, which finds itself in the role of bystander despite the nation’s prominent position on the agendas for both meetings.


European Union


Geopolitics & Energy Security


UkraineAlert

Jun 8, 2021

Ukraine’s post-2014 public procurement progress is under threat

By
Max Nefyodov

An amendment adopted by the Ukrainian parliament on June 3 sets an awful precedent that could pave the way for further exemptions of major construction projects from Ukraine’s public procurement laws and regulations.


Corruption


Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Jun 7, 2021

Ukraine’s new football shirt leaves Russia furious

By
Peter Dickinson

Russia has reacted with fury to Ukraine's new national football team jersey featuring a map of Ukraine. Kremlin anger is focused on the inclusion of Crimea, which is internationally recognized as part of Ukraine but has been under Russian occupation since 2014.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jun 3, 2021

Ukraine’s energy future is tied to European integration

By
Olga Bielkova

Energy transformation is possible in Ukraine. In order to make this vision a reality, Ukrainians must first define it and commit to consistent implementation, election cycles notwithstanding.


Energy Markets & Governance


Energy Transitions


UkraineAlert

Jun 3, 2021

US vaccine diplomacy: Ukraine should be a priority

By
Geoffrey Berlin

With US President Joe Biden preparing to send 80 million Covid vaccine doses abroad, Ukraine is a strong candidate to become a priority beneficiary in this first wave of America’s “vaccine diplomacy.”


Coronavirus


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jun 1, 2021

Why Eurovision is Ukraine’s soft power secret weapon

By
Peter Dickinson

Since the dawn of Ukrainian independence in 1991, no single event has done as much to promote Brand Ukraine internationally or showcase the country’s creativity as the annual Eurovision Song Contest.


Resilience & Society


Ukraine

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.

Follow us on social media
and support our work

Content

UkraineAlert

Aug 30, 2015

Russian Narrative of Ukraine Conflict Fails to Sway Opinions in Odesa

By Ruben Gzirian

Eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region is strewn with remnants of Russian-made cartridges from AK-74U rifles, littered with the splintered, hollowed-out ruins of Russian-made BTR-80 armored personnel carriers, and scarred with the skeletons of Russian T-74B battle tanks. Yet the Kremlin’s incursion into Ukrainian territory is not isolated to the Donbas. Its influence has also permeated the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 30, 2015

Ukraine Must Privatize Failing State-Owned Enterprises Quickly

By Anders Åslund

Privatization has generated controversy in every post-communist country. Ministers of privatization are usually accused of heinous crimes, regardless of how impeccably they have performed their jobs. Yet privatization is vital for all such nations, not least for Ukraine. The goal must be to limit state-owned enterprises so that the private sector dominates. The aim isn’t […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 28, 2015

Exiled Russian Lawmaker Ilya Ponomarev: Current US Sanctions Won’t Work

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The United States must expand the scope of its sanctions well beyond Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle if this effort—a response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine—is to have any real impact, says a Russian lawmaker. “The [US] government machine is doing what it can do, but […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 27, 2015

To Prevent Global Catastrophe, Putin Must Go

By Leonid Gozman

The minority of Russians who have not been zombified by official propaganda and who still have any clue about what is really going on in the world—rather than just on television—already know Russia is hurtling toward full-blown catastrophe, though the details might be up for debate. Will the collapse come next month, or more like […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 27, 2015

Things Are Looking Up for Ukraine: Debt Deal Reached

By Anders Åslund

Today Ukraine received great news. Private owners of $19 billion of Ukraine’s Eurobonds have agreed to a substantial debt restructuring that will give Ukraine much-needed relief. The high bond yields have been sharply reduced, the bonds’ maturities have been prolonged, and the face value of the bonds has been reduced by 20 percent. According to […]

Eastern Europe Russia

UkraineAlert

Aug 25, 2015

How the West Can Stop Russia’s Escalating War in Ukraine

By Maksym Khylko

This month, Russia stepped up military pressure on Ukraine, concentrating about fifty thousand troops along its border with Ukraine, using its proxy militias to shell Ukrainian government positions in the Donbas, and threatening Kyiv with “a big war.” The current escalation indicates Russian discontent with Ukraine’s refusal to make unilateral concessions such as allowing the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 20, 2015

Russia, Not Ukraine, is the Questionable Partner

By Melinda Haring

In its August 12 editorial, “Shaky Ukraine: Economics and Corruption Complicate Its War,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette calls Ukraine a “questionable partner” because of “resistance to economic reform and use of Islamist Chechen forces.” Too bad neither charge is true.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 19, 2015

The Soviet Playbook in Ukraine

By Aaron Korwea

It appears that Russian President Vladimir Putin is losing the war in Ukraine. Gone are the talks about seizing so-called Novorossiya—the strip of land from Kharkiv to Odesa—and establishing a land bridge to occupied Crimea. Even though recent developments suggest a possible offensive to expand the territory Russia and its proxies now hold, perhaps with […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 17, 2015

“We want Ukraine to be a European country, not a Putin country,” Says Ukrainian MP

By Diane M. Francis

World attention focuses on ISIS and Iran, with its half an atomic weapon. But the biggest geopolitical issue is Vladimir Putin, backed by thousands of nuclear weapons, who is gradually conquering Ukraine, a democracy with 45 million people the size of Germany and Poland combined. In just over a year, Russia has seized 9 percent […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 17, 2015

Ukraine’s Fall Elections Matter More Than You Think

By Brian Mefford

With less than 80 days before election day in Ukraine, mayoral races are already heating up. Parliament approved a new election law that does two things: Ukraine will use an open-list system and the country will hold runoffs for mayors in larger cities. These two features combined with the potential decentralization reforms being debated by […]

Ukraine