UkraineAlert

UkraineAlert

UkraineAlert is a comprehensive online publication that provides regular news and analysis on developments in Ukraine’s politics, economy, civil society, and culture. UkraineAlert sources analysis and commentary from a wide-array of thought-leaders, politicians, experts, and activists from Ukraine and the global community. UkraineAlert has become a major publication in Ukraine’s news landscape and has established itself not only through its quality of content but also significant partnerships with English, Ukrainian, and Russian-language media through the country.

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

Zelenskyy’s first year: New beginning or false dawn?

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
Zelenskyy’s first year: New beginning or false dawn?

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
Zelenskyy’s first year: New beginning or false dawn?

UkraineAlert Aug 25, 2026

A cultural renaissance is reshaping national identity in wartime Ukraine

By Davis Richardson

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is fueling a defiant cultural outpouring that is redefining and strengthening Ukrainian national identity in ways that challenge centuries of Kremlin imperialism, writes Davis Richardson.
Civil Society Conflict

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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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
Zelenskyy’s first year: New beginning or false dawn?

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.

Read More
Zelenskyy’s first year: New beginning or false dawn?

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
Zelenskyy’s first year: New beginning or false dawn?

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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Content

UkraineAlert

May 18, 2020

Zelenskyy’s first year: New beginning or false dawn?

By Steven Pifer

Volodymyr Zelenskyy generated a wave of optimism when he became Ukraine’s sixth president on May 20, 2019. One year on, it is not clear whether his presidency will prove to be genuinely transformational or just another false dawn.

Democratic Transitions Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 18, 2020

Ukrainians reject modern Russia’s WWII victory cult as geopolitical divide deepens

By Victor Tregubov

A nationwide survey conducted on the eve of this year's WWII anniversary events found that a clear majority of Ukrainians now blame the USSR together with the Nazis for sparking the Second World War.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

May 17, 2020

From Stalin to Putin: The Crimean Tatars face a new era of Kremlin persecution

By Polina Sadovskaya and Veronika Pfeilschifter

As the Crimean Tatar community marks the seventy-sixth anniversary of their Soviet deportation, an entire generation faces the prospect of another year living in terror at home in Russian-occupied Crimea or forced into exile.

Conflict Human Rights

UkraineAlert

May 15, 2020

Why I’m optimistic Georgia’s reforms can change Ukraine

By Mikheil Saakashvili

Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili explains why he believes his experience reforming Georgia can help Ukraine accomplish its own post-Soviet transition towards European prosperity.

Democratic Transitions Political Reform

UkraineAlert

May 13, 2020

US still determined to block Putin’s pet pipeline project

By Diane Francis

Vladimir Putin hasn’t given up on his grand strategy to dominate European gas markets but the US remains committed to preventing Russia from completing the strategically vital Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany.

Eastern Europe Geopolitics & Energy Security

UkraineAlert

May 13, 2020

Ukraine approves crucial anti-oligarch banking law

By Anders Åslund

Ukrainian MPs have adopted legislation to prevent former owners regaining banks nationalized during recent reforms. The move is a blow to Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoiskiy and paves the way for a new IMF program.

Corruption Economy & Business

UkraineAlert

May 12, 2020

Putin’s Russia has weaponized World War II

By Volodymyr Yelchenko

Vladimir Putin has turned the Red Army role in WWII into a victory cult designed to rebuild post-Soviet Russia's national pride and provide justification for Moscow's aggressive foreign policy in Ukraine and beyond.

Conflict Eastern Europe

UkraineAlert

May 12, 2020

Can Saakashvili rescue Ukraine’s reform agenda?

By Peter Dickinson

President Zelenskyy has appointed former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili to lead Ukraine's National Reform Council. What might this appointment mean for the country's stuttering reform agenda?

Democratic Transitions Political Reform

UkraineAlert

May 12, 2020

Zelenskyy’s spring 2020 purge targets reformers

By Victor Tregubov

Ukraine's President Zelenskyy won election one year ago by promising to end decades of government corruption, but a spring 2020 purge of leading Ukrainian reformers raises grave doubts over the country's future direction.

Democratic Transitions Rule of Law

UkraineAlert

May 11, 2020

Enough already

By Melinda Haring

There are other troubling signs on the horizon. Reformers in Kyiv worry that a revanche is underway and civil service, medical, anti-corruption, and fiscal reforms are all under attack.

Political Reform Rule of Law
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