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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

Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine obsession could spark a major European war

UkraineAlert Jan 20, 2026

Ukraine’s best security guarantee is the ability to strike back inside Russia

By Serhii Kuzan

With Kyiv’s Western allies unlikely to risk war with Russia, Ukraine’s most realistic security guarantee remains a strong military coupled with the ability to strike targets deep inside Russia, writes Serhii Kuzan.
Conflict Defense Policy
Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine obsession could spark a major European war

UkraineAlert Jan 15, 2026

Veterans can shape the future of Ukrainian democracy

By Vasyl Sehin

The participation of military veterans in Ukraine’s political life has the potential to dramatically strengthen Ukrainian democracy and safeguard the country’s historic transition from centuries of Russian autocracy, writes Vasyl Sehin.
Conflict Democratic Transitions
Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine obsession could spark a major European war

UkraineAlert Jan 8, 2026

Ukraine’s robot army will be crucial in 2026 but drones can’t replace infantry

By David Kirichenko

Ukraine’s growing robot army of land drones will play a vital role in the country’s defense during 2026, but they are not wonder weapons and cannot serve as a miracle cure for Kyiv’s manpower shortages, writes David Kirichenko.
Artificial Intelligence Conflict

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Aug 3, 2023

Agricultural obstacles may complicate Ukraine’s path toward EU membership

By Aleksander Cwalina, Benton Coblentz

Ukraine continues to pursue EU integration even as the country defends itself against Russian invasion, but there are signs that some EU member states are not yet ready to integrate Ukraine's powerful agricultural sector.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 3, 2023

Russia is targeting Ukrainian national identity with attacks on heritage sites

By Mercedes Sapuppo

The Russian bombing of Odesa's main Orthodox church in July was the latest in long line of attacks on Ukrainian heritage sites that indicate a deliberate campaign to erase Ukrainian cultural identity, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 3, 2023

Russian Orthodox leader Patriarch Kirill’s unholy war against Ukraine

By Borys Gudziak

Russia's Unholy War: Russian Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Kirill has provided the ideological justification for Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and Russian efforts to eliminate Ukrainian national identity.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 1, 2023

Ukraine is finally freeing itself from centuries of Russian imperialism

By Taras Kuzio

Vladimir Putin hoped his full-scale invasion of Ukraine would mark the dawn of a new Russian Empire. Instead, it has strengthened Ukraine's resolve to free itself from centuries of Russian imperialism, writes Taras Kuzio.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jul 31, 2023

Zelenskyy advisor: Defeat in Ukraine will spark collapse of Putin regime

By Peter Dickinson

Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak says the Wagner mutiny has exposed Russia's internal weakness and predicts battlefield defeats in Ukraine will spark the collapse of the Putin regime, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Jul 27, 2023

Ukraine must not forget fight against corruption while battling Russia

By Brian Mefford

The Ukrainian fightback against Russia's invasion has won the admiration of the watching world, but corruption continues to threaten the country from within and could undo any battlefield success, warns Brian Mefford.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jul 27, 2023

Russia’s mass abduction of Ukrainian children may qualify as genocide

By Vladyslav Havrylov

Vladimir Putin has already been charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court over the mass abduction of Ukrainian children. Many believe the deportations quality as genocide, writes Vladyslav Havrylov.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jul 27, 2023

Ukraine’s digital revolution is proving vital for the country’s war effort

By Mykhailo Fedorov

Ukraine's remarkable resilience amid the biggest European war since World War II owes much to the country's ongoing digital revolution, writes Ukrainian Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov.

Conflict Cybersecurity

UkraineAlert

Jul 25, 2023

Rebuilding efforts should prioritize the key pillars of Ukraine’s democracy

By Oleksii Antoniuk

International attention is currently focused on the physical reconstruction of postwar Ukraine's devastated infrastructure, but rebuilding the country's democratic institutions will be just as important, writes Oleksii Antoniuk.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jul 25, 2023

Ukraine’s gas storage facilities can play a key role in European energy security

By Sergiy Makogon

Ukraine's underground gas storage facilities are the largest in Europe and offer considerable untapped opportunities to enhance the continent's energy security, writes Sergiy Makogon.

Conflict Energy Markets & Governance
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spotlight

Resilience in the face of adversity

Ukraine’s transformation

Ukraine has moved tentatively toward an open society and market economy since independence. The country has held several democratic elections and made halting progress in addressing corruption and state control in its economy. Since the 2014 Maidan Revolution, Ukraine has undertaken significant governance and economic reform and moved decisively toward a Europe-Atlantic foreign policy. Since 2022, Ukraine has resiliently continued to advance some reforms despite fighting for its very existence against the full-scale Russian invasion.

Learn more about Ukraine
Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine obsession could spark a major European war

UkraineAlert Dec 5, 2024

Ukraine’s entrepreneurial class can drive the country’s economic recovery

The Ukrainian SME sector has demonstrated remarkable wartime resilience and is poised to be at the forefront of efforts to create a modern, innovative, postwar economy, writes Anton Waschuk.

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Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine obsession could spark a major European war

UkraineAlert Oct 1, 2024

Ukraine needs international investors to maintain defense tech momentum

By Mykhailo Fedorov

Ukraine’s rapidly expanding defense tech sector can play a game-changing role in the war against Russia but Ukrainian companies need international investment, writes Ukraine’s Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov.
Artificial Intelligence Conflict
Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine obsession could spark a major European war

UkraineAlert Jun 13, 2024

Ukraine officially embraces English as historic westward pivot continues

By Oleksiy Goncharenko

By officially embracing English, Ukrainians aim to support their country’s historic pivot away from Moscow and return to the European community of nations, writes Oleksiy Goncharenko.
Civil Society Conflict

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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UkraineAlert

Nov 27, 2021

Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine obsession could spark a major European war

By Andriy Zagorodnyuk, Alexander Khara

Russian President Vladimir Putin's Ukraine obsession could spark the largest European conflict since WWII. With Russian troops massed on the Ukrainian border, Western leaders must demonstrate their readiness to back Ukraine and impose crushing costs on the Kremlin.

Conflict Cybersecurity

UkraineAlert

Nov 23, 2021

How to Deter Russia Now

By Daniel Fried, John E. Herbst, Alexander Vershbow

With Russian troops once more massing on the Ukrainian border, the United States and Europe must make clear to the Kremlin that they stand with Ukraine and will impose serious costs in the event of an offensive.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Nov 23, 2021

Vladimir Putin is testing the “weak” West in Ukraine and Poland

By Taras Kuzio

Russia's current military build-up on the Ukrainian border is part of Vladimir Putin's hybrid war against the democratic world and an attempt to exploit what many in the Kremlin perceive to be Western "weakness."

Belarus Conflict

UkraineAlert

Nov 21, 2021

Vladimir Putin’s slow-motion annexation of east Ukraine continues

By Peter Dickinson

As international leaders and the world’s media speculate over Moscow’s latest military build-up on the Ukrainian border, Russian President Vladimir Putin is quietly proceeding with the slow-motion annexation of east Ukraine.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Nov 20, 2021

Defensive Putin accuses West of ignoring Russian red lines

By Anders Åslund

Russian President Vladimir Putin's November 18 foreign policy speech to Russian diplomats was one of the most defensive performances of his 21-year reign, argues Anders Åslund.

Conflict National Security

UkraineAlert

Nov 18, 2021

Why wartime Ukraine’s defense minister must be a civilian

By Andriy Zagorodnyuk

The recent appointment of Oleksiy Reznikov as Ukraine’s new defense minister is a step in the right direction away from the Soviet model towards NATO standards of civilian control over the Ukrainian armed forces.

Defense Industry Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Nov 16, 2021

New book recounts prisoner torture in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine

By Andrew D’Anieri

A new book by Ukrainian journalist Stanislav Aseyev seeks to raise international awareness of the secret prisons in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine where detainees are subjected to grave human rights abuses.

Conflict Human Rights

Event Recap

Nov 16, 2021

What happened to the Kyiv Post?

By Eurasia Center

On November 8, a single article appeared on the Kyiv Post's website. It's message: The newspaper would shut down for a "for a short time." But there might be more to the story. Melinda Haring dives in with former writers and editors with the Kyiv Post.

Civil Society Media

UkraineAlert

Nov 15, 2021

Escalating Belarus border crisis could pose a security threat to Ukraine

By Bohdan Nahaylo

The escalating migrant crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border poses a potential threat to Ukraine, which shares a long and vulnerable 1,000 km border with Belarus and could serve as an alternative route into the EU.

Belarus Conflict

UkraineAlert

Nov 15, 2021

New US-Ukraine Charter underlines American commitment to Ukrainian security

By Anders Åslund

The new US-Ukraine Charter on Strategic Partnership adopted on November 10 underlines American support for Ukrainian security and US concerns over the possibility of further Russian aggression.

Disinformation Non-Traditional Threats
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