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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

Sep 10, 2026

Russia’s escalating bombing campaign is terrorizing Ukrainian schoolchildren

By Shelby Magid

Russia's escalating bombardment of Ukrainian cities is terrorizing a generation of Ukrainian schoolchildren who are being prevented from attending classes or forced to spend days in bomb shelters, writes Shelby Magid.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Sep 10, 2026

As Russia’s invasion falters, Putin boasts of imaginary victories

By Peter Dickinson

Putin was caught lying about imaginary Russian victories again in September. His habit of exaggerating battlefield gains reflects mounting unease over the credibility gap between the Kremlin’s superpower pretensions and his army’s underwhelming performance in Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Sep 8, 2026

Ukrainian drone strikes are disarming Russia’s energy weapon

By Ana Lejava

For years, Russia wielded its energy capacity as a weapon against its neighbors to manipulate, coerce, and control. Ukraine’s strategic bombing campaign is now turning this energy weapon against Moscow itself, writes Ana Lejava.

Central Asia Conflict

UkraineAlert

Sep 8, 2026

Putin welcomes Trump’s peace envoys but has no intention of ending the war

By Peter Dickinson

Trump’s envoys continue to discuss win-win scenarios, but Putin is playing a zero sum game. His invasion of Ukraine is not a land grab or a geopolitical real estate deal. It is an attempt to reverse the Soviet collapse and revive the Russian Empire, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Sep 3, 2026

Putin cannot defeat NATO but he could divide and discredit the alliance

By Peter Dickinson

If Russian President Vladimir Putin decides to attack NATO, his goal will be to divide and discredit the alliance rather than actually defeating it, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Sep 3, 2026

Russia is trying to bully Europe into abandoning Ukraine

By Maksym Beznosiuk, Will Dixon

Russia is escalating its campaign of so-called “grey zone” aggression against Europe as Putin attempts to intimidate EU leaders and deter further support for Ukraine, write Maksym Beznosiuk and Will Dixon.

Conflict Drones

UkraineAlert

Sep 1, 2026

For Putin, the ‘root cause’ of the war is the existence of independent Ukraine

By Kateryna Odarchenko

Moscow claims to be ready for peace once the "root causes" of the Russia-Ukraine War are addressed, but Putin's demands confirm that he believes the "root cause" of the war is the existence of an independent Ukraine, writes Kateryna Odarchenko.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Sep 1, 2026

Europe should already start planning for a post-Lukashenka Belarus

By Viktar Baranau

There is nothing about today’s Belarus that suggests a country on the verge of change. Nevertheless, European policymakers would be well-advised to begin preparing for a post-Lukashenka Belarus now, in order to have a plan in place when the moment of transition arrives, writes Viktar Baranau.

Belarus Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 27, 2026

Ukrainians are not superheroes with endless powers of resilience

By Lauren Van Metre, Elena Davlikanova

By celebrating Ukrainian resilience as an almost superhuman quality, the international community risks obscuring the much less glamorous reality that Ukrainians are actually ordinary people who have endured extraordinary violence for far too long, write Lauren Van Metre and Elena Davlikanova.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 27, 2026

Drone parade showcases Ukraine’s remarkable military transformation

By Mykola Bielieskov

Ukraine celebrated Independence Day this week with a novel military parade made up exclusively of unmanned systems, underlining the country’s emergence as a global leader in the field of drone warfare, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Conflict Defense Industry

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UkraineAlert

Mar 31, 2022

Putin will win unless the West sends Ukraine offensive weapons

By Alyona Getmanchuk

Western weapons have played a key role in helping Ukraine to inflict punishing losses on Putin's invasion force but Russia may still secure a bloody victory if the democratic world fails to accelerate arms deliveries.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Mar 29, 2022

Russia in retreat: Putin appears to admit defeat in the Battle for Kyiv

By Peter Dickinson

Kremlin officials have announced plans to withdraw troops from the Kyiv region in what is widely being seen as a major setback for Putin's war and tacit recognition of Russia’s failure to seize the Ukrainian capital.

Conflict National Security

UkraineAlert

Mar 28, 2022

No compromises with the Kremlin: Why we must denazify Putin’s Russia

By Kateryna Zarembo

Russian President Vladimir Putin claims to be engaged in a crusade to "denazify" democratic Ukraine, but in reality it is his own increasingly authoritarian regime that is in urgent need of "denazification," writes Kateryna Zarembo.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Mar 27, 2022

Russian energy embargo: Europe must stop financing Putin’s Ukraine war 

By Diane Francis

Naftogaz CEO Yuriy Vitrenko has accused European countries of funding Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and called for an immediate embargo on all Russian energy exports in order to stop the war.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Mar 25, 2022

Ukraine’s southern capital Odesa prepares to repel Russian invasion

By Oleksiy Goncharenko

Vladimir Putin must take Odesa if he wishes to subjugate the whole of Ukraine but the predominantly Russian-speaking Black Sea port city is in defiant mood amid preparations to repel the Russian invaders.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Mar 23, 2022

Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine War can end in only two ways: Genocide or defeat

By Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that he regards Ukrainians as Russians and does not recognize Ukraine's right to exist. Unless he is defeated, his Ukraine invasion may deteriorate into a genocide in the heart of Europe.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Mar 21, 2022

Vladimir Putin’s criminal war has killed the myth of Russian-Ukrainian unity

By Alexander Khrebet

The Russian invasion of Ukraine was meant to secure Vladimir Putin’s place in history and reunify what Moscow views as the divided lands of historic Russia. Instead, it has killed the myth of Russian-Ukrainian unity.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Mar 21, 2022

Fear of provoking Putin is leading the Western world toward disaster

By Ilya Timtchenko

Western policy toward Russia has long been shaped by fear of provoking Vladimir Putin but this caution has only served to encourage further acts of Russian aggression culminating in the current war in Ukraine.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Mar 20, 2022

Bold Ukrainians defy Putin’s invasion and join European electricity grid

By Aura Sabadus

Despite the existential challenges posed by Russia's full-scale invasion of the country, Ukraine has managed in recent weeks to complete the country's connection to the European electricity grid.

Conflict Energy & Environment

UkraineAlert

Mar 19, 2022

Putin drank the Kremlin Kool-Aid

By Taras Kuzio

Russian President Vladimir Putin drank the Kremlin Kool-Aid and seems to have sincerely believed his disastrous Ukraine war would be an imperial triumph with minimal costs on the domestic and international fronts.

Conflict Disinformation