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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 23, 2025

NATO chief: Cost of Russian victory in Ukraine would be ‘trillions not billions’

By Peter Dickinson

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has warned NATO leaders that a Russian victory in Ukraine would cost alliance members “trillions not billions,” writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

Jan 23, 2025

North Korea is using Russia’s Ukraine invasion to upgrade its army

By Alina Hrytsenko

North Korea’s participation in Russia’s Ukraine invasion is a dangerous escalation in what is already the largest European war since World War II with potentially alarming implications for global security, writes Alina Hrytsenko.

Conflict
Defense Technologies

UkraineAlert

Jan 23, 2025

European Parliament and United States condemn ‘sham’ Belarus vote

By Mercedes Sapuppo

The European Parliament has condemned this weekend’s presidential election in Belarus as a “sham” designed to keep the country’s long-serving dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka in power, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

Belarus
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jan 21, 2025

Ukrainian parliament prepares to vote on Bulgarian nuclear reactor purchase

By Stephen Blank

Ukraine is poised to purchase a pair of Soviet-era nuclear reactors from Bulgaria in a deal that highlights the country’s struggle for greater energy security amid Russia’s ongoing bombardment of civilian infrastructure, writes Stephen Blank.

Conflict
European Union

UkraineAlert

Jan 21, 2025

Donald Trump’s promise of strong US leadership should begin with Ukraine

By Arseniy Yatsenyuk

By resolutely backing Ukraine, President Trump can prevent the slide toward World War III and reestablish US leadership in a world threatened by Putin’s Axis of Autocrats, writes former Ukrainian PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

Conflict
European Union

UkraineAlert

Jan 16, 2025

Ukraine’s escalating air attacks bring Putin’s invasion home to Russia

By Maria Avdeeva

Ukraine has begun 2025 with a series of increasingly ambitious long-range air attacks against strategic military and industrial targets that are succeeding in bringing Putin’s invasion home to Russia, writes Maria Avdeeva.

Conflict
Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

Jan 15, 2025

Europe has a window of opportunity to shape Ukraine peace efforts

By Doug Klain

With the incoming Trump administration still formulating its approach to ending the Russian invasion of Ukraine, European leaders now have an historic window of opportunity to shape the future of European security, writes Doug Klain.

Conflict
European Union

UkraineAlert

Jan 15, 2025

Appeasement will only fuel Vladimir Putin’s imperial ambitions in Ukraine

By Anastasiia Marushevska

Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is an old-fashioned colonial war rooted in centuries of Russian imperial history that cannot be ended by limited territorial concessions or other attempts at appeasement, writes Anastasiia Marushevska.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Jan 14, 2025

No peace without security: Ukraine needs guarantees against new Russian invasion

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine is ready to make territorial concessions but insists that any peace deal must include credible long-term security guarantees to prevent a new Russian invasion, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
European Union

UkraineAlert

Jan 9, 2025

Abandoning Ukraine would plunge the entire world into an era of instability

By Victor Liakh

If Western leaders choose to sacrifice Ukraine in a misguided bid to placate Putin, the shift from a rules-based international order to the law of the geopolitical jungle will be complete, writes Victor Liakh.

Conflict
Freedom and Prosperity

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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.

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

Jan 7, 2021

What is Ukraine’s economic outlook for 2021?

By Anders Åslund

Without judicial reform or an increase in investment, there is little reason to expect any economic growth in Ukraine during 2021 beyond the gains arising from the post-coronavirus rebound.

Coronavirus
Economy & Business

UkraineAlert

Jan 7, 2021

Ukraine counting on Biden’s support in struggle against Russian authoritarianism

By Kira Rudik

Many Ukrainians have high hopes for US President-elect Joe Biden. They see cause for encouragement in Biden’s nuanced understanding of Ukrainian affairs honed through years of engagement.

Conflict
Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Jan 5, 2021

All roads lead to Ukraine in Putin’s global hybrid war

By Peter Dickinson

For the past seven years, Russia has been waging a campaign of hybrid hostilities against the West. This confrontation began in Ukraine, and events in Ukraine remain central to what has become a new Cold War.

Conflict
Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Jan 2, 2021

US imposes new sanctions to kill off Putin’s pet pipeline

By Diane Francis

New US sanctions look set to thwart Russian efforts to complete a strategically important natural gas pipeline that would greatly strengthen the Kremlin's control over European energy supplies.

European Union
Geopolitics & Energy Security

UkraineAlert

Dec 22, 2020

Death of Kharkiv mayor Kernes marks end of era

By Brian Mefford

The recent death of long-serving Kharkiv mayor Hennadiy Kernes marks the end of an era for the eastern Ukrainian city and ushers in a period of political jockeying in the months ahead.

Coronavirus
Politics & Diplomacy

UkraineAlert

Dec 21, 2020

Ukraine’s education reforms are at risk of politicization

By Andrew D’Anieri

The controversial recent confirmation of Serhiy Shkarlet as Ukrainian Minister of Education has dragged the country's ambitious education sector reform agenda firmly into the political fray.

Education
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 21, 2020

Ukraine on trial

By Adrian Karatnycky

Fears are mounting that the prosecution of Maidan protest movement leader Tetyana Chornovol on murder charges is an attempt to put Ukraine's entire future as a European democracy on trial.

Democratic Transitions
Resilience & Society

UkraineAlert

Dec 17, 2020

Why East European gas markets should integrate

By Aura Sabadus

To meet the four key gas sector challenges facing them, regional countries including Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey will need to work in unison to satisfy mutual interests.

Eastern Europe
Energy Markets & Governance

UkraineAlert

Dec 17, 2020

International Criminal Court is no panacea for Ukraine

By Wayne Jordash and Anna Mykytenko

The International Criminal Court announced plans in December 2020 for a probe into possible war crimes committed in Ukraine since 2014, but past experience indicates the road to justice will be long.

Conflict
International Organizations

UkraineAlert

Dec 17, 2020

International investigation into Ukraine war crimes is Kremlin’s worst nightmare

By Dmytro Kuleba

The International Criminal Court looks set to begin an investigation into war crimes in Ukraine since 2014, opening the way for a trial that could eventually hold Russia to account for its six-year war against Ukraine.

Conflict
Russia