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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

Feb 4, 2021

Ukraine scores court victory in long quest for justice over Russia’s Crimean crimes

By
Shelby Magid, Andrew D’Anieri

Ukraine’s long quest to bring Russia to justice received a boost on January 14 when the ECHR ruled that Ukrainian complaints of Russian crimes in occupied Crimea were “partly admissible.”


Conflict


Human Rights


UkraineAlert

Feb 3, 2021

Ukraine strikes back against Russian infowar with ban on Kremlin-linked TV channels

By
Taras Kuzio

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's February 2 decision to force three Kremlin-linked Ukrainian TV channels off the air is his boldest move yet in the struggle against Russia's ongoing hybrid war.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Feb 2, 2021

Zelenskyy’s Axios interview raises questions in Ukraine

By
Solomiia Bobrovska

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's recent interview with US outlet Axios left many questioning the quality of his preparation and unsure about his views on the key events in modern Ukrainian history.


Media


Politics & Diplomacy


UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2021

Ukraine embraces openness with new report on Russian hybrid warfare challenges

By
Brian Mefford

A new report by Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service explores the threats posed by Russia's ongoing hybrid war against the country and demonstrates a new openness that reflects broader changes in Ukraine.


Conflict


Intelligence


UkraineAlert

Jan 30, 2021

The rejection of reformer Yuriy Vitrenko highlights Ukraine’s broken politics

By
Adrian Karatnycky

The Ukrainian parliament's failure to confirm the appointment of veteran reformer Yuriy Vitrenko as Energy Minister raises serious questions over the maturity of the country's political culture.


Corruption


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Jan 28, 2021

Navalny’s anti-Putin message resonates in Russia’s regions

By
Maria Snegovaya

Alexei Navalny’s anti-Putin message clearly resonates with residents of Russian regions far away from the country’s traditional centers of political activity in Moscow and St. Petersburg.


Civil Society


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Jan 28, 2021

Navalny vs Putin: what next?

By
Peter Dickinson

January 23 saw some of the biggest anti-regime protests across Russia in recent years. What can we expect from the escalating confrontation between Vladimir Putin and opposition leader Alexei Navalny?


Corruption


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2021

Geopolitics complicates Ukraine’s vaccine quest

By
Pavlo Kovtoniuk

Unfavorable geopolitical factors have helped make Ukraine one of the last countries in Europe to secure COVID vaccine supplies and delayed the launch of a national inoculation campaign.


Coronavirus


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2021

Protest mood spreads from Belarus to Russia as calls grow for post-Soviet change

By
Brian Whitmore

As Russians took to the streets across eleven time zones on January 23 to protest the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, many of them also had protests in neighboring Belarus on their minds.


Belarus


Civil Society


UkraineAlert

Jan 26, 2021

Resetting Ukraine’s reforms

By
Olena Halushka

Since the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, Ukraine has embarked on an historic reform process that has produced decidedly mixed results. A reset may now help get the country's transformation back on track.


Corruption


Democratic Transitions

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.

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Content

UkraineAlert

May 21, 2015

Why Mariupol Will Not be the Next Frontline

By Ruben Gzirian

Analysts and journalists have begun to ask where the Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine will go next now that the second ceasefire agreement has failed. Skirmishes on the frontline in Shyrokyne, less than ten miles from Mariupol’s city limits, have raised concerns that Mariupol will be the next target. Geographically and commercially speaking, Mariupol makes […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 20, 2015

Europe Needs to Help Ukraine Now

By Anders Åslund

Ukraine bleeds, but reforms impressively, while the West ignores it. The Minsk ceasefire agreement does not hold, though the intensity of the fighting has faded. In mid-March, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) doubled Ukraine’s international reserves, but the country’s finances remain fragile. Europe’s central banks should provide a large swap credit with minimum risks to […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 19, 2015

The West’s Failure of Nerve

By Stephen Blank

Poland and the Baltic states intend to ask NATO to station a battalion or even larger units on their territory. The Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—want a brigade so that each country can host a battalion or permanent rotational forces. Poland’s Foreign Minister, Grzegorz Schetyna, indicated that his government would request the permanent stationing of […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 19, 2015

Remembering Roman

By Melinda Haring and Simon Hoellerbauer

Every Memorial Day, friends leave small bottles of Jack Daniel’s and an American flag on Roman Kupchinsky’s gravestone in Arlington National Cemetery. Kupchinsky was a warrior, both on and off the battlefield. A man of passion who fought for his ideals with a singular determination, he devoted his life to seeing Ukraine become free. He […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 14, 2015

Four Reasons to Be Hopeful About Ukraine’s Economy

By Yuriy Gorodnichenko

Ukraine’s current economic crisis was years in the making. Former President Viktor Yanukovych grossly mismanaged and looted the country. And it may take years for the country to fully recover. But there are signs that the economy has reached the lowest point and its prospects are brighter than commonly portrayed in the press.

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 13, 2015

Imposing Costs on Putin Will Deter War

By John E. Herbst

“Russia and America: Stumbling to War,” a recent National Interest article by Graham Allison and Dimitri Simes, commands attention because of the gravity of the issue and the stature of its authors. Allison is a leading authority on great power relations, and Dimitri Simes is a scholar with deep connections to the elites running Russia.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 13, 2015

Crimean Tatars: ‘We did not reject Russia, Russia rejected us’

By Catherine Cosman

On May 18, 1944, Joseph Stalin deported more than 180,000 Crimean Tatars to Uzbekistan. Once again this community faces major challenges. Today, 230,000 Crimean Tatars, who are mainly Sunni Muslims, represent about 12 percent of Crimea’s population. Virtually all of Crimea’s Tatars opposed Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and refused to vote in […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 12, 2015

Russia Has Complete Information Dominance in Ukraine

By James J. Coyle

Hackers have consistently used low-level cyber warfare tactics to advance Russian goals in Ukraine. A dedicated group of hackers successfully infected the e-mail systems of the Ukrainian military, counterintelligence, border patrol, and local police. The hackers use a spear-phishing attack in which malware is hidden in an attachment that appears to be an official Ukrainian […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 7, 2015

‘Russian Propaganda is Really Working,’ Warns Crimean Activist

By Melinda Haring

Activist Urges US Government to Step Up Efforts in Crimea Russia has banned Taras Berezovets from visiting his family in Crimea. His crime: launching Free Crimea, a nongovernmental organization focused on disseminating impartial information about Crimea, in December 2014. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) considers it an extremist organization.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 7, 2015

When the Kremlin Makes An Offer You Can’t Refuse

By Stephen Blank

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has multiple dimensions, and the energy dimension is one that has been underestimated. Russia has sought to make Ukraine dependent on its abundant energy since 2006. The reason is simple: Russia wants economic and political control over Ukraine and it wants to enmesh Ukraine’s government and elites in a web of […]

Russia Ukraine