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

Aug 15, 2022

Will the United States designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism?

By Mark Temnycky

As Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine approaches the six-month mark amid growing evidence of war crimes, pressure is mounting on the Biden Administration to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism.

Conflict
European Union

UkraineAlert

Aug 14, 2022

Russia’s invasion has highlighted Ukraine’s nation-building progress

By Anders Åslund

Ukraine’s remarkably resilient response to Russia’s February 2022 invasion has highlighted the impressive nation-building progress made by the country since the chaotic early years of the post-Soviet era.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 12, 2022

Guide to wartime Kyiv: City on the frontlines of European history

By Andreas Umland

Visiting wartime Ukraine is certainly an extreme option but a trip to today’s Kyiv offers an opportunity to witness world history in the making while providing Ukrainians with meaningful moral and material support.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 11, 2022

Generation UA: Young Ukrainians are driving the resistance to Russia’s war

By Mehri Druckman

Generation UA: From politics and the military to civil society and journalism, the post-independence generation of young Ukrainians is driving the country’s remarkable fight back against Russia’s invasion.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 10, 2022

Putin is running out of excuses as Ukraine expands the war to Crimea

By Peter Dickinson

Russian officials have denied that Ukraine was behind an audacious August 9 attack on an airbase in occupied Crimea but Moscow’s excuses are beginning to wear thin as Vladimir Putin’s invasion continues to unravel.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Aug 9, 2022

Flawed Amnesty report risks enabling more Russian war crimes in Ukraine

By Lillian Posner

Amnesty International’s recent report accusing Ukraine of endangering civilian lives has sparked a wave of international criticism and is being actively used by the Kremlin to justify Russian bombing of civilian targets.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 8, 2022

Putin has forced Ukrainians to view Russian culture as a weapon of war

By Kate Tsurkan

Efforts to reduce Russia’s cultural footprint in Ukraine have sparked criticism but in reality it is Putin who has weaponized Russian culture and forced Ukrainians to view the likes of Pushkin and Dostoevsky as tools of empire.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 5, 2022

Russia’s invasion is putting the future of Ukraine’s forests at risk

By Yehor Hrynyk

As the Russian invasion approaches the six-month mark, Ukraine’s forests are facing the twin threats of frontline wildfires and wartime emergency economic measures that could lead to a disastrous increase in logging.

Conflict
Eastern Europe

UkraineAlert

Aug 4, 2022

Russian army faces morale problems as Putin’s Ukraine invasion drags on

By Peter Dickinson

A new opinion poll indicates that the Russian public continues to strongly support their country’s invasion of Ukraine but there are growing signs that Vladimir Putin’s invading army is suffering from low morale.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Aug 4, 2022

Ukraine grain deal: World must still confront Putin’s Black Sea blackmail

By Oleksiy Goncharenko

The recent UN-brokered agreement to end Russia’s Black Sea blockade and renew Ukrainian grain shipments is a step in the right direction but the only way to truly safeguard global food security is via military measures.

Conflict
Drones

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 13, 2020

Front line communities and Ukraine’s local elections

By Andreas Umland

Ukraine plans to hold nationwide local elections in October 2020, but areas close to the front lines of the conflict with Russia in the east of the country will not participate. How can these regions be best managed?

Conflict
Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Aug 13, 2020

Ukraine must address the legal ambiguity enabling Putin’s not-so-secret war

By Wayne Jordash

Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine is one of the world's worst-kept secrets, but a failure to end the legal ambiguity shrouding Russia's role in the ongoing conflict makes progress towards peace impossible.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Aug 11, 2020

Zelenskyy’s old new faces

By Adrian Karatnycky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to power in 2019 promising a new era in Ukrainian politics but the recent appointment of figures from the discredited past raises questions about this fresh start.

Democratic Transitions
Political Reform

UkraineAlert

Aug 6, 2020

Can new legislation revive Ukraine’s defense reforms?

By Serhiy Piontkovsky

Ukraine's defense industry has become a major source of state spending since the onset of hostilities with Russia in 2014, but corruption allegations have been a problem. Can new legislation revive reform efforts?

Defense Policy
Defense Technologies

UkraineAlert

Aug 4, 2020

From Russian war to European opportunity: Reinventing eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region

By Oleksii Reznikov

Putin has place eastern Ukraine's Donbas region at the heart of his "Russian World" mythology, but in reality the region has a cosmopolitan heritage that could help to inspire a new era of European investment.

Conflict
Economy & Business

UkraineAlert

Aug 3, 2020

How to overcome Ukraine’s IT industry brain drain

By Bill Brown

Ukraine’s booming IT industry is fueling the country's economic growth. The future of the sector depends on creating a professional climate that will convince talented young Ukrainian IT professionals to stay.

Entrepreneurship
Internet

UkraineAlert

Aug 3, 2020

For Ukraine, endless Putin means endless hybrid war

By Mark Temnycky

Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent constitutional amendments will allow him to extend his reign until 2036. This undermines faint hopes for an end to the six-year Russo-Ukrainian War.

Conflict
Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Aug 1, 2020

Kyiv names street in honor of journalist who exposed Stalin’s Ukrainian genocide

By Peter Dickinson

Kyiv City Council has confirmed plans to name a street in the Ukrainian capital in honor of British journalist Gareth Jones, who first brought news of Stalin's 1933 Ukrainian genocide to international audiences.

Disinformation
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 30, 2020

The coronavirus crisis and statelessness in Ukraine

By Andrew D’Anieri

For the estimated 35,000 stateless people living in Ukraine, access to even the most basic resources like food, medicine, and hygienic products, has been all but cut off due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Coronavirus
Human Rights

UkraineAlert

Jul 29, 2020

Hard political realities threaten Ukraine’s soft power ambitions

By Marina Pesenti

The Ukrainian Institute was established in 2018 in order to make the most of the country's untapped soft power potential, but this cultural diplomacy initiative faces numerous political and bureaucratic obstacles.

Civil Society
Politics & Diplomacy