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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 14, 2021

Old problems threaten Ukraine’s new Bureau of Economic Security

By
Victor Tregubov

Ukraine is currently in the process of reforming the country’s tax police. While there was much initial optimism earlier this year over the creation of a Bureau of Economic Security, familiar concerns are now creeping in as this new agency slowly takes shape.


Corruption


Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Oct 14, 2021

Ukraine hopes industrial parks can attract international investors

By
Oleksii Chernyshov

President Zelenskyy recently signed off on a series of amendments to Ukrainian legislation on industrial parks as part of an initiative to establish a network of 25 flagship industrial parks across the country.


Economy & Business


Trade and tariffs


UkraineAlert

Oct 12, 2021

Medvedev echoes Putin’s dangerous Ukraine obsession

By
Peter Dickinson

Former Russian president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev has penned a vitriolic essay attacking the current Ukrainian leadership that underlines the scale of Moscow's dangerous obsession with the loss of Ukraine.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Oct 11, 2021

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy must prove he is serious about judicial reform

By
Mykhailo Zhernakov, Nestor Barchuk

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's reputation as a reformer hinges on his ability to deliver on promises to transform Ukraine's discredited judiciary and achieve a breakthrough towards the rule of law in the country.


Corruption


Political Reform


UkraineAlert

Oct 10, 2021

Europe’s energy crisis highlights dangers of reliance on Russia

By
Aura Sabadus

Russia stands accused of exploiting the current gas crisis in Europe as part of Kremlin efforts to strengthen Moscow's position in EU energy markets and push through certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.


European Union


Geopolitics & Energy Security


UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2021

Southern Ukraine’s Bessarabia is poised for a regional revival

By
Andrew D’Anieri

Rural Bessarabia in southwestern Ukraine is physically isolated from the rest of the country and has often been overlooked in national politics but is now undergoing an exciting regional revival.


Economy & Business


Infrastructure Protection


UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2021

Ukraine seeks peace with the past

By
Olesya Khromeychuk

Since becoming independent in 1991, Ukraine had been locked in relentless memory wars. Three decades on, the country may now be moving towards a new era marked by more meaningful commemoration of the troubled past.


Disinformation


Resilience & Society


UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2021

The EU must stop serving as a playground for corrupt Ukrainian oligarchs and officials

By
Daria Kaleniuk

If the EU is serious about helping Ukraine achieve a decisive break with the institutional corruption of the post-Soviet era, it must also stop serving as a playground for corrupt Ukrainian oligarchs and officials.


Corruption


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Oct 5, 2021

Saakashvili arrest overshadows Georgian ruling party’s election win

By
Peter Dickinson

Georgia’s ruling party Georgian Dream secured victory in October 2 local elections but the imprisonment of returning ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili leaves little realistic chance of an end to political tensions.


Elections


The Caucasus


UkraineAlert

Oct 4, 2021

Time to rethink Ukraine’s fight against corruption

By
Bohdan Vitvitsky

The ongoing struggle against corruption in Ukraine would benefit from greater coordination among the country's international partners and a longer term strategy, argues Bohdan Vitvitsky.


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 4, 2015

Ukraine Debt Deal Could Spark Chain Reaction

By Yuri Poluneev

Ukraine’s economy is in crisis. Experts warn that the country’s gross domestic product could shrink by 6 to 12 percent and inflation could exceed 40 percent in 2015, although one prominent economist put that figure in triple digits already. The war in eastern Ukraine has throttled the country’s industrial capacity. To prevent the country from […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 30, 2015

Ukraine’s Volunteer Battalions Must Join the Military or Sheath the Sword

By Ruben Gzirian

The Ukrainian army faces growing criticism from within its ranks after humiliating defeats at Debaltseve and Ilovaisk in eastern Ukraine. When fighting broke out between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists, the Ukrainian military was weak and the state had to rely on volunteers. Of the fifty thousand Ukrainian troops in the field, 22 percent are […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 30, 2015

The West’s Strategy Toward Putin Promises Conflict and Increases Danger of Wider War

By Melinda Haring

Ian Brzezinski: Our policy “conveys hesitancy and a lack of unity and determination. It has failed to convince Putin to reverse course. Indeed, it may have actually emboldened him.”    The West’s current strategy toward Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine not only promises continued conflict in Ukraine but also poses an increased danger […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 28, 2015

Klitschko: Economic Success Will Unite Country

By Melinda Haring

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko is no pushover. The former professional boxer turned politician has never been knocked down in a professional boxing match. Known for his powerful punches, Klitschko’s 87 percent knockout rate is the second-best knockout-to-fight ratio of any champion in heavyweight boxing history.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 27, 2015

Ukraine’s PR Problem Isn’t Just a PR Problem

By Andrew Kornbluth

Ukraine has a problem with global public relations. Despite its fundamentally compelling narrative—a recent democracy defending itself against a much larger, authoritarian neighbor—the country’s efforts remain uncoordinated, unprofessional, and unfiltered. Even as the state relies on a worldwide diaspora in its struggle for survival, it shows few signs of effectively harnessing its expatriates and the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 27, 2015

Let’s Go “All In” on Ukraine

By Jeffrey Gedmin

In October 1949, as the defeated forces of Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan and Mao Zedong declared the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Republicans in Congress blamed Harry S. Truman for losing China. Some demanded a pivot from Europe to Asia in US foreign policy. Truman might have been persuaded a few years […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 23, 2015

Is Putin’s Russia Fascist?

By Alexander J. Motyl

A growing number of Russian analysts, in Russia and abroad, have taken to calling Vladimir Putin’s regime “fascist.” And they don’t use the term casually or as a form of opprobrium. They mean that Putin’s Russia genuinely resembles Mussolini’s Italy or Hitler’s Germany.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 23, 2015

Russia’s Lone Warrior Stands Up to Putin

By Irena Chalupa

Ilya Ponomarev has not slept in the same bed for more than a few nights since August 2014. The two-term legislator from Russia’s third-largest city Novosibirsk has been living in exile since Russia’s lower house of parliament, the Duma, stripped him of parliamentary immunity.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 22, 2015

Letter: Experts Worry that “Decommunization” Laws Curtail Free Speech

By Atlantic Council

Editor’s note: It’s unfortunate that in a time of critical issues that legislation that disenfranchises certain, if often extreme, points of view looks like it’s going to become law. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is expected to sign four laws on “decommunization,” recently passed by Ukraine’s parliament, which enact an official version of the nation’s 20th century […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 21, 2015

No Easy Outs for Putin: US Presidential Candidates United on Ukraine

By Ariel Cohen

Ukraine will remain at the heart of the conflict between the US and Russia beyond the 2016 presidential election. In the polls, Americans are united on Ukraine; the majority of respondents support increased sanctions on the Kremlin. All of the major presidential candidates, save Senator Rand Paul, take a tough approach with Moscow and support […]

Russia Ukraine