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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy receives a Covid vaccine jab on March 2, 2021. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service via REUTERS)

Ukraine fails vaccine test

The original article can be found here – https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/ukraine-fails-vaccine-test/ As Ukraine entered April 2021, the country was in its third lockdown phase since the Covid 19 pandemic began in spring 2020, and its second lockdown in the space of just three months. To date, at least 35,000 Ukrainians have died as a result of the […]

34-year-old Rivne Mayor Oleksandr Tretyak (pictured, center, with members of his municipal team) was elected in late 2020 in a vote that reflected a strong local appetite for political change in the western Ukrainian city.

Young Ukrainian mayor offers hope of a new politics

The original article can be found here – https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/young-ukrainian-mayor-offers-hope-of-a-new-politics/ In November 2020, Rivne residents voted for a dramatic change in the local status quo by electing 34-year-old Oleksandr Tretyak as their new mayor. Despite polls showing him starting the election campaign in September with support levels of just 1.2%, the charismatic candidate managed to score […]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is hoping to strengthen cooperation with the Biden administration. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/Pool)

How Zelenskyy can improve the US-Ukraine relationship

The original article can be found here – https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/how-zelenskyy-can-improve-the-us-ukraine-relationship/ Following a sometimes rocky relationship during the four years of the Trump administration, the Ukrainian government is seeking to begin the Biden presidency with US-Ukrainian ties on a more stable footing. Since President Biden’s inauguration, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has taken a number of steps that […]

Viktor Yushchenko pictured during Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution. (REUTERS/Gleb Garanich)

Rethinking Yushchenko

The original article can be found here – https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/rethinking-yushchenko/ “He plants trees which will be of use to another age,” said the Roman poet Caecilius Statius. This phrase captures the idea of a far-sighted leader who is focused on the distant future beyond their own lifetime. As Viktor Yushchenko celebrates his sixty-seventh birthday this week, […]

One of Vladimir Putin's "Little Green Men" (Russian soldiers without identifying insignia) pictured during the Kremlin seizure of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in 2014. (REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko)

Ukraine embraces openness with new report on Russian hybrid warfare challenges

The original article can be found here – https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/ukraine-embraces-openness-with-new-report-on-russian-hybrid-warfare-challenges/ Ukraine’s security and intelligence services have struggled with reputational issues ever since independence. During the early post-Soviet period, the Security Services and Foreign Intelligence Service operated with much the same mentality as the KGB during the Cold War, with the West seen as the main adversary. […]

Ukraine's recent local election cycle took place amid an ongoing coronavirus pandemic. (Konstantin Sazonchik/TASS)

National parties lose out to local candidates in Ukraine’s 2020 municipal elections

Original article can be found here – https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/national-parties-lose-out-to-local-candidates-in-ukraines-2020-municipal-elections/ Early December saw most of Ukraine’s remaining local election runoff votes take place, giving us a more or less complete picture of the situation across the country. It is now clear that the most striking feature of this local election cycle was the success of incumbent mayors […]

Ukrainians will vote in the second round of mayoral elections across the country on November 22. (Valentin Sprinchak/TASS

Mayoral races in Ukraine: City-by-city runoff preview

Original article can be found here – https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/mayoral-races-in-ukraine-city-by-city-runoff-preview/ Ukraine’s local election season continues in the second half of November with a series of second round runoff votes to elect mayors across the country. On November 15, incumbent mayors Trukhanov in Odesa and Motherland’s Lysenko in Sumy won their respective runoffs decisively, while Andriy Pankov lost […]

A woman casts her ballot in Konstyantynivka during Ukraine's October 25 municipal elections. (Valentin Sprinchak/TASS)

Winners and losers of Ukraine’s local elections

Original article can be found here – https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/winners-and-losers-of-ukraines-local-elections/ Ukrainians went to the polls in local elections on October 25. While the final results are still being certified, it is already possible to speak in broad terms about the winners and losers of the vote. The biggest winners were the growing number of incumbent mayors who […]

Ukraine will hold nationwide local elections on October 25. In Lviv (pictured), incumbent mayor Andriy Sadoviy is expected to win re-election. (REUTERS/Gleb Garanich)

City-by-city guide to Ukraine’s local elections

Original article can be found here – https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/city-by-city-guide-to-ukraines-local-elections/ Ukraine is set to hold local elections on October 25 and mayoral races are taking shape across the country against a backdrop of pandemic disruption. Who will be running Ukraine’s major cities once the dust settles following this weekend’s vote? The first thing to note is that […]

Ukrainians go to the polls on October 25 to vote in local elections that promise to serve as the first major electoral test for President Zelenskyy since he and his party swept to power last year. (REUTERS/Kacper Pempel)

Five predictions for Ukraine’s local elections

Original article can be found here – https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/five-predictions-for-ukraines-local-elections/ Ukraine is set to hold nationwide local elections on October 25, with runoff elections scheduled for three weeks later. With Ukraine experiencing a potential second wave of Covid-19 and ongoing confrontation with Russia in the Donbas, here are five predictions at the start of the campaign. First, […]