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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

Jan 28, 2022

Ukrainian neutrality would not appease Putin or prevent further Russian aggression

By
Stephen Blank

Anyone who believes Ukrainian neutrality would appease Vladimir Putin should bear in mind the fact that Ukraine was officially neutral when Russia first invaded the country back in 2014.


Conflict


NATO


UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2022

The US must show leadership in countering Putin’s imperial ambitions

By
Eugene Czolij

The United States needs to assume a strong leadership position in international efforts to counter Putin’s imperial ambitions. Putin has made clear what he wants. It is time for America to deliver an equally emphatic response.


Conflict


Cybersecurity


UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2022

Inside Putin’s Ukraine obsession

By
Taras Kuzio

When Russian President Vladimir Putin laments the fall of the USSR and speaks about the injustice of the post-Soviet settlement, he is really thinking of Russian imperialism and has Ukraine primarily in mind.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jan 25, 2022

Survey: Western public backs stronger support for Ukraine against Russia

By
Carl Bildt, Aleksander Kwasniewski, Victor Pinchuk, Anders Fogh Rasmussen

A recent six-country opinion survey commissioned by the Yalta European Strategy and Victor Pinchuk Foundation has identified strong Western public backing for an assertive policy in support of Ukraine.


Conflict


Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Jan 25, 2022

Ukrainian diaspora says Canada must do more to back Ukraine against Putin

By
Diane Francis

Members of Canada’s large Ukrainian diaspora are growing increasingly frustrated with what they see as their government’s failure to stand with Ukraine as it faces the prospect of a full-scale Russian invasion.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jan 24, 2022

Putin’s threatened invasion is already hitting the Ukrainian economy hard

By
Anders Åslund

While the world waits to see if Vladimir Putin will proceed with his threatened invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s menacing military posture is already hitting the Ukrainian economy hard.


Conflict


Corruption


UkraineAlert

Jan 23, 2022

Disarming Putin’s history weapon

By
Bohdan Vitvitsky

Ever since 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin has weaponized history as part of his hybrid war against Ukraine and sought to whitewash what is a deeply troubling Russian record of atrocity and oppression.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jan 23, 2022

Ukraine Crisis: Putin the gambler may have gone too far to back down

By
Timothy Ash

Russian President Vladimir Putin has gained the world's attention with his threat to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine but he may now feel he must act or risk a serious loss of credibility on the international stage.


Conflict


European Union


UkraineAlert

Jan 22, 2022

Stop asking what Putin wants and start asking what Ukrainians want

By
Mychailo Wynnyckyj

Fears of a major European war have sparked endless speculation over what Putin may want and how the West should react, but Ukraine itself has been largely reduced to the status of bystander in its own national drama.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jan 19, 2022

Don’t believe Putin’s propaganda. Sanctions are hurting Russia.

By
Harley Balzer

International sanctions imposed on Russia since 2014 in response to Moscow's attack on Ukraine continue to have a negative impact on the country's economy despite Kremlin efforts to claim otherwise.


Conflict


Defense Technologies

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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.

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Content

UkraineAlert

Nov 3, 2014

Russian-Ukraine Gas Deal Gives Moscow the Leverage and Europe the Energy

By John E. Herbst

Ukrainians Will Get Gas, Too, But Their Cost and Risk of Cutoffs Remain High European Union leaders in Brussels may be celebrating the gas deal signed Thursday between Ukraine and Russia as an assurance of Russian gas supplies to Europe this winter, but Ukrainians can at best take cold comfort from the agreement. EU Energy […]

Eastern Europe Energy & Environment

UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2014

Ukraine Gas Deal May Show That the West’s Sanctions on Russia Are Working

By James Rupert

The gas supply deal signed in Brussels yesterday among Russia, Ukraine and the European Union “is perhaps the clearest indication yet that sanctions imposed on Russia are working in terms of changing Russia’s behavior,” writes Timothy Ash, an economist who directs emerging markets strategy at Standard Bank in London.

Eastern Europe Energy & Environment

UkraineAlert

Oct 30, 2014

Russian-Backed ‘People’s Republics’ in Ukraine Prepare Elections for Sunday

By James Rupert

Donetsk, Lugansk Vote for ‘Parliaments’ Violates Truce and Raises Risks, Say Analysts The Russian-backed, miniature, “people’s republics” declared in southeastern Ukraine are preparing to elect parliaments and heads of state on Sunday, a step backed by Moscow to consolidate their self-declared statehood. Those elections promise to further undermine the already wobbly political deal that underpins […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 27, 2014

Today’s Corruption Video: Which Ukrainian Officials Own These Palaces?

By New Atlanticist

The former director and deputy director of Ukraine’s state-owned gas company, Naftogaz, will have been waiting today to hear if they are elected to Ukraine’s parliament, not least because winning seats would offer them immunity from prosecution. Prosecution for what?

Elections Politics & Diplomacy

UkraineAlert

Oct 27, 2014

Ukraine Counts Its Votes: Here Is What They Mean

By New Atlanticist

Official Tallies Are Tracking With Polls Predicting a Strong, Pro-Europe and Reformist Coalition With 71 percent of Ukraine’s ballots counted today, the official results are broadly tracking the recent days’ polls, suggesting that Ukraine’s next government will be a pro-European coalition built across several political parties, with President Petro Poroshenko likely to rely on his […]

Eastern Europe Elections

UkraineAlert

Oct 27, 2014

Ukrainians Vote for a European Future and for Reform

By John E. Herbst

Parliament Election is a Defeat for Russia’s Putin: How Will He Respond? If Sunday’s exit poll accurately depicts Ukraine’s parliamentary vote, the outcome is a stunning victory for reform and a pro-European orientation—and a big defeat for Russian President Vladimir Putin. It immediately raises the question whether Putin will respond with a new aggressive move […]

Eastern Europe Elections

UkraineAlert

Oct 24, 2014

George Soros on Ukraine: Europe Is Sleeping Through Its Decisive Fight

By New Atlanticist

Billionaire investment magnate and pro-democracy philanthropist George Soros has sounded what he says is a wake-up call to Europe (and to the United States) over a failure to see that it is “facing a challenge from Russia to its very existence.” You can read here his full 3,200-word essay for the New York Review of […]

European Union International Organizations

UkraineAlert

Oct 24, 2014

A Night in War-Shattered Lugansk: Russian Soldiers Share Vodka with Western Journalists

By James Rupert

‘You Didn’t See Us Here,’ Officer Admonishes, as Moscow Keeps Military Options in Ukraine As Ukrainians elect a parliament this weekend, new evidence pops up of Russia’s military role in their country: Western journalists this week found destroyed Russian tanks in Donetsk—and very live (if somewhat drunk) Russian soldiers happy to socialize at one of […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 20, 2014

Ukraine Prepares to Elect Its Most Pro-European Parliament in History

By New Atlanticist

Poroshenko’s Party Leads; Yatsenyuk Improves Chance of Remaining Prime Minister On Sunday, Ukrainians will elect their first parliament since the Maidan revolution and the Russian invasions of Crimea and Donbas. Kyiv-based political analyst Brian Mefford, now a nonresident senior fellow of the Atlantic Council, analyzes Ukrainian politics and elections on his website’s blog. Mefford’s analysis […]

Elections Politics & Diplomacy

UkraineAlert

Oct 17, 2014

Yanukovych Birthday Video Reflects What Is Angering Ukrainians Now

By James Rupert

Kyiv Says It Fires 39 Officials as Voters Show Frustration Over Continued Corruption Eight months after Ukrainians forced the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych, they will elect a parliament amid rising public anger over the persistence of government corruption under the still-new regime of President Petro Poroshenko. Public discussion about how many new leaders are […]

Ukraine