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

Breadbasket Ukraine must not prohibit grain exports

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
Breadbasket Ukraine must not prohibit grain exports

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
Breadbasket Ukraine must not prohibit grain exports

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

Mar 28, 2019

Time to play hardball on reforming Ukraine’s security service

By Oleksandra Ustinova and Steven Pifer

In June 2018, Ukraine’s parliament adopted the Law on National Security, with the help of the United States and other international partners, including NATO and the European Union. Among other things, the law set the frame for the functions of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and opened the door for comprehensive reform of that […]

Conflict Corruption

UkraineAlert

Mar 28, 2019

The Kremlin’s top eight lies about Ukraine’s presidential race

By Tetyana Matychak

On March 31, Ukrainians go to the polls to elect their sixth president. An openly pro-Russian candidate is unlikely to win. However, Moscow is watching closely and cares about the outcome. What is it saying about the election? We analyzed the most widespread Kremlin manipulations about Ukraine’s presidential election on Russian state-controlled media in March. […]

Civil Society Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Mar 25, 2019

What to expect from Ukraine’s completely unpredictable presidential election

By Brian Mefford

On March 31, Ukrainians will select their sixth president. The election is seen a referendum on the incumbent Poroshenko administration and his record since the watershed Euromaidan Revolution that decisively moved Ukraine onto a pro-Western path. Polls put political newcomer Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the lead, with Poroshenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko fighting for […]

Elections Political Reform

UkraineAlert

Mar 25, 2019

Some things never change

By Andreas Umland

Ukraine’s presidential election is less than a week away, and no candidate will win outright with fifty percent. Comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy leads in the polls and will certainly be in the run-off election on April 21. The big question is whether he will face incumbent President Petro Poroshenko or former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Poroshenko […]

Elections Eurozone

UkraineAlert

Mar 25, 2019

The real Russian candidate in Ukraine’s presidential race

By Anders Åslund

On March 22, nine days before the Ukrainian presidential election, Ukraine’s pro-Russian presidential candidate Yuriy Boyko went to Moscow to meet Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev without prior announcement. It’s strange for a presidential candidate to visit a leader of a country with which it is at war, but that was only the beginning of […]

Corruption Elections

UkraineAlert

Mar 21, 2019

Real advice, not platitudes, keeps Kyiv on reform path

By Steven Pifer and William B. Taylor

We read with interest Adrian Karatnycky’s piece “Viceroys in Kyiv.”  We respect Mr. Karatnycky but have a different perspective. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. We each served as the American ambassador to Ukraine and, in that capacity as well as in other positions in the US government, urged our Ukrainian counterparts to move on reform—both in […]

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Mar 21, 2019

Viceroys in Kyiv?

By Adrian Karatnycky

How should Western diplomats advance democracy and the rule of law? In closed societies, as the late US diplomat Mark Palmer argued, US ambassadors should be clear voices for human rights and due process. They should monitor attacks on human rights, attend trials of dissidents, and speak out when they see major violations of freedom. […]

Corruption International Financial Institutions

UkraineAlert

Mar 19, 2019

Want justice? In Ukraine, you may have to do it yourself

By Diane Francis

Viktor Handziuk speaks softly about his only child, daughter Kateryna, and how she defended classmates from bullies when growing up. Kateryna grew and took on Ukraine’s bullies by participating in the Orange and Euromaidan Revolutions and by becoming a lawyer and public administrator in Kherson, a city of 290,000 just one hour from Crimea. But […]

Civil Society Corruption

UkraineAlert

Mar 18, 2019

Why Ukraine should abandon efforts to criminalize illicit enrichment

By Leonid Antonenko

In late February, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine declared the criminal code’s article criminalizing illicit enrichment unconstitutional. The response among activists, independent media, and Western embassies was unanimous: the decision was a massive step back for Ukraine. It undid the small but real progress that the country had made toward prosecuting corrupt officials. However, this […]

Corruption Northern Europe

UkraineAlert

Mar 18, 2019

Bad advice

By Stephen Blank

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko recently advocated building intermediate-range ballistic missiles and cruise missiles to target and presumably use against Russia. No doubt Poroshenko calculated that he might gain a political advantage during the final days of a tough campaign for reelection by adopting this hawkish stance. And he may have also thought it made military […]

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
Breadbasket Ukraine must not prohibit grain exports

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
Breadbasket Ukraine must not prohibit grain exports

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
Breadbasket Ukraine must not prohibit grain exports

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

Apr 10, 2020

Breadbasket Ukraine must not prohibit grain exports

By Anders Åslund

Ukrainian policymakers are reportedly discussing the prohibition of grain exports. This could have a disastrous impact on the economy while also damaging ties with Ukraine's international partners.

International Financial Institutions Trade and tariffs

UkraineAlert

Apr 8, 2020

Beyond east versus west: Ukraine must go global

By Viktor Karvatskyy

The coronavirus crisis is a globally disruptive event that gives Ukraine an opportunity to rethink the country's geopolitical trajectory and move beyond the traditional foreign policy of east versus west.

Politics & Diplomacy Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 8, 2020

Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine is a ticking coronavirus time bomb

By Mark Temnycky

With poor medical facilities, limited quarantine measures, and a large pension-age population, Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine has the potential to become a major coronavirus hotspot.

Coronavirus Russia

UkraineAlert

Apr 8, 2020

Ukraine lacks leadership as coronavirus crisis escalates

By Volodymyr Dubovyk

Ukraine is ill-prepared for a major coronavirus outbreak but the country has wasted precious weeks engaging in political drama as the scale of the pandemic threat become increasingly apparent.

Coronavirus Political Reform

UkraineAlert

Apr 6, 2020

Коронавірусна криза відкриває можливість закінчити війну в Україні

By Уільям Б. Тейлор, Стівен Пайфер & Джон Хербст

Цю статтю було вперше опубліковано на NPR Усі три автори є колишніми послами США в Україні. Уільям Б. Тейлор є віце-президентом з питань стратегічної стабільності та безпеки в Американському інституті миру (United States Institute of Peace). Стівен Пайфер є старшим науковим співробітником програми ім. Уільяма Перрі в Стенфордському університеті. Джон Хербст є директором Євразійського центру […]

Conflict Coronavirus

UkraineAlert

Apr 6, 2020

Коронавирусный кризис открывает возможность закончить войну в Украине

By Уильям Б. Тейлор, Стивен Пайфер & Джон Хербст

Эта статья впервые была опубликована на NPR Все три автора — бывшие послы США в Украине. Уильям Б. Тейлор — вице-президент по вопросам стратегической стабильности и безопасности в Американском институте мира (United States Institute of Peace). Стивен Пайфер — старший научный сотрудник программы им. Уильяма Перри в Стэнфордском университете. Джон Хербст — директор Евразийского центра “Атлантического совета”. На фоне […]

Conflict Coronavirus

UkraineAlert

Apr 4, 2020

Ukraine adds political drama to coronavirus crisis

By Brian Mefford

Ukraine experienced a month of political turbulence in March 2020 as the country grappled with cabinet reshuffles amid an escalating coronavirus crisis. Who emerged as the political winners and losers?

Coronavirus Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Apr 4, 2020

Coronavirus crisis could spark authoritarian revival

By Oleksiy Goncharenko

The Western world has been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus crisis while non-democratic regimes claim to have acted more decisively. Will the pandemic lead to greater support for authoritarian approaches?

Coronavirus Eastern Europe

UkraineAlert

Apr 2, 2020

Ukrainian local authorities move online to beat coronavirus lockdown

By Michael Druckman

With Ukraine under coronavirus lockdown, legislation has been rushed through allowing local authorities to operate online. The move is being greeted as another step in the right direction for Ukraine's fledgling democracy.

Coronavirus Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Apr 2, 2020

Will coronavirus cuts kill off Ukraine’s post-Maidan cultural renaissance?

By Marina Pesenti

Ukraine is preparing major budget cuts to cultural institutions as part of efforts to fund the fight against coronavirus. This threatens to reverse the progress in the cultural sphere achieved since 2014.

Coronavirus Resilience & Society
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