Stay Updated

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

May 27, 2022

South Ukraine holds the key to Putin’s dreams of a new Russian Empire

By Taras Kuzio

The biggest European battles since WWII are currently raging in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region but the ultimate outcome of the Russo-Ukrainian War is likely to be decided hundreds of miles to the south.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

May 27, 2022

Ukraine’s sports stars aim to provide nation with a wartime morale boost

By Mark Temnycky

Ukraine's national football team will take on Scotland in a 2022 World Cup playoff match on June 1 in Glasgow as they seek to provide their compatriots back home with a much-needed wartime morale boost.

Conflict Resilience & Society

UkraineAlert

May 24, 2022

Putin’s Mariupol Massacre is one of the 21st century’s worst war crimes

By Paul Niland

The Russian destruction of Mariupol ranks among the gravest crimes against humanity of the twenty-first century and sends a clear message to the international community that can be no compromise peace with Putin.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

May 24, 2022

The Putin puzzle: Why is the Russian dictator so obsessed with Ukraine?

By Bohdan Vitvitsky

Vladimir Putin has sought to justify his invasion of Ukraine by claiming the country has no right to exist but in reality modern Ukraine enjoys a level of democratic legitimacy that far exceeds his own authoritarian regime.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

May 22, 2022

Centuries of Russian oppression have forged Ukraine’s remarkable resilience

By Pete Shmigel

Centuries of traumatic experience with the horrors of Russian imperialism have shaped today’s Ukraine in ways that may actually contribute to Putin's defeat and help Ukrainians to build a better future for their country.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

May 21, 2022

Appeasement is the worst possible policy for both Ukraine and Russia

By Dennis Soltys

Western advocates of appeasement in Ukraine such as French President Emmanuel Macron fail to appreciate the deep-rooted imperial ambitions underpinning Vladimir Putin's campign to extinguish Ukrainian independence.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

May 18, 2022

Putin’s Black Sea blockade leaves millions facing global famine

By Andriy Zagorodnyuk

Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports is strangling the country’s economy and also threatening to spark a global food security crisis by preventing Ukrainian agricultural exports from reaching international markets.

Conflict Economy & Business

UkraineAlert

May 18, 2022

Disarming Russia’s energy weapon: Ukraine begins electricity exports to Moldova

By Aura Sabadus

Less than two months after synchronizing with the European electricity grid, Ukraine has begun energy exports to neighboring Moldova in a move that is likely to further dent Russia’s grip over the region.

Conflict Energy Markets & Governance

UkraineAlert

May 17, 2022

Vladimir Putin is running out of options to avoid defeat in Ukraine

By Taras Kuzio

Vladimir Putin expected a quick victory in Ukraine but now finds himself facing a catastrophic defeat that will shatter Russia's pretensions to military superpower status while threatening Putin's own authoritarian regime.

Conflict Crisis Management

UkraineAlert

May 16, 2022

Ukraine War Diary: Everyday life is slowly returning to Fortress Kyiv

By Vitaly Sych

Ukraine War Diary: A semblance of normality is returning to life in the capital but Kyiv remains a fortress city where a strong military presence and an absence of children serve as constant reminders that the country is at war.

Civil Society Conflict

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.

Follow us on social media
and support our work

Content

UkraineAlert

Aug 19, 2021

Ukraine shines a spotlight on Putin’s Crimean crime

By Peter Dickinson

Representations of forty countries are set to gather in Kyiv on August 23 for the inaugural Crimea Platform summit to address the ongoing Russian occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula.

Conflict Russia

UkraineAlert

Aug 17, 2021

Biden and Merkel must confront Putin’s imperial ambitions in Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent essay "On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians" argued that Russians and Ukrainians are "one people," but an overwhelming majority of Ukrainians do not agree.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Aug 16, 2021

Afghanistan collapse sparks wave of alarm in Ukraine

By Alyona Getmanchuk

The complete collapse of the US-backed Afghan government in recent weeks has sparked alarm in Ukraine and led to questions over the future of the country's own strategic partnership with America.

Afghanistan Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 15, 2021

The West must not force a Russian “peace” on Ukraine

By Volodymyr Vasylenko

By appeasing Russia in Ukraine and pressuring Kyiv to accept peace on the Kremlin's terms, the democratic world risks turning Minsk into a new Munich, argues veteran Ukrainian diplomat Volodymyr Vasylenko.

Conflict International Norms

UkraineAlert

Aug 12, 2021

Ukraine must do more to protect civilians living close to the conflict contact line

By Beatrice Godefroy, Suleiman Mamutov

With little hope of a breakthrough towards peace in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian authorities must focus their attention on protecting civilians caught up in the ongoing conflict.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Aug 12, 2021

Countering Putin’s passport policies in Ukraine

By Vitaliy Nabukhotny

Moscow has weaponized the distribution of Russian passports as part of its hybrid campaign to undermine Ukrainian sovereignty. How should Ukraine and the international community fight back?

Conflict Non-Traditional Threats

UkraineAlert

Aug 9, 2021

Remembering Yevhen Marchuk

By Peter Dickinson

Ukrainian politician Yevhen Marchuk passed away on August 5 at the age of eighty. Marchuk was one of the country’s most prominent public figures during the early years of Ukrainian independence, founding the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) before serving as both Prime Minister and Defense Minister.

Politics & Diplomacy Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 7, 2021

The 2008 Russo-Georgian War: Putin’s green light

By Peter Dickinson

The 2008 Russo-Georgian War is now widely recognized as a landmark event in Russia's emergence under Vladimir Putin as a revisionist power seeking to reverse the verdict of 1991.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Aug 5, 2021

Time to remind Russia that Crimea is Ukraine

By Oleksii Reznikov

The inaugural meeting of Ukraine's new Crimean Platform initiative will take place in Kyiv later this month as efforts continue to end the seven-year Russian occupation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Aug 5, 2021

How Ukraine can push back against Vladimir Putin’s twisted history

By Tom Warner

Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent article on Ukrainian history has been interpreted by many as a declaration of war against Ukrainian national identity. How should Ukraine respond to this ominous essay?

Conflict Disinformation