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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

Zelensky, Zelenskiy, Zelenskyy: spelling confusion doesn’t help Ukraine  

UkraineAlert Sep 30, 2025

Putin’s dream of demilitarizing Ukraine has turned into his worst nightmare

By Peter Dickinson

Putin had hoped to demilitarize and decapitate the Ukrainian state, but his self-defeating invasion has inadvertently created the militarily powerful and fiercely independent Ukraine he feared most of all, writes Peter Dickinson.
Conflict Defense Technologies
Zelensky, Zelenskiy, Zelenskyy: spelling confusion doesn’t help Ukraine  

UkraineAlert Oct 2, 2025

Drone superpower Ukraine is teaching NATO how to defend against Russia

By David Kirichenko

Ukraine’s unrivaled experience of drone warfare makes it a key partner for NATO and an indispensable ally in the defense of Europe as the continent faces up to the mounting threat posed by an expansionist Russia, writes David Kirichenko.
Conflict Defense Technologies
Zelensky, Zelenskiy, Zelenskyy: spelling confusion doesn’t help Ukraine  

UkraineAlert Oct 14, 2025

Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure are a European problem

By Aura Sabadus

Russia’s strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure are no longer just a Ukrainian problem. Moscow’s bombing campaign will become a wider European issue unless more support is offered to Kyiv, writes Aura Sabadus.
Conflict Drones

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Nov 4, 2025

EU praises Ukraine’s progress but warns Zelenskyy over corruption

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s bid to join the EU received a boost this week with the release of a report praising the country’s progress toward future membership, but EU officials also warned President Zelenskyy about the dangers of backsliding on anti-corruption reforms, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Corruption

UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2025

Europe finally moves to ban Russian gas but potential loopholes remain

By Aura Sabadus

The EU has recently moved to impose a full ban on Russian gas imports by 2028. After years of using energy exports to blackmail Europe and fund the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow is finally facing the loss of its last European costumers, writes Aura Sabadus.

Conflict
Economic Sanctions

UkraineAlert

Oct 30, 2025

Russia’s advance on Pokrovsk exposes Ukraine’s growing manpower crisis

By Peter Dickinson

As Russian troops close in on the strategically crucial city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv’s growing manpower shortages are becoming increasingly apparent, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Oct 30, 2025

Belarusian balloons pose new threat in Putin’s hybrid war against Europe

By Hanna Liubakova

Lithuanian officials have accused neighboring Belarus of using balloons to violate EU airspace and disrupt air traffic as part of the Kremlin’s ongoing hybrid war against Europe, writes Hanna Liubakova.

Belarus
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Oct 28, 2025

UN report: Russia targets civilians in systematic bid to depopulate Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Russia is deliberately targeting Ukrainian civilians in a deadly drone strike campaign that aims to depopulate large parts of the country and constitutes a crime against humanity, according to a new United Nations report, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Technologies

UkraineAlert

Oct 23, 2025

Russia’s ‘human safari’ in southern Ukraine is a warning to the world

By Oleksandr Tolokonnikov

Russia’s escalating campaign of drone attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine’s Kherson region highlights the destructive power of modern drone technologies, writes Oleksandr Tolokonnikov.

Conflict
Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

Oct 23, 2025

US voices concern over Chinese support for Russia’s Ukraine invasion

By Katherine Spencer

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has raised concerns over Chinese components in Russian military drones amid fresh allegations of Beijing’s mounting support for Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, writes Katherine Spencer.

China
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Oct 21, 2025

Budapest summit postponed as Putin rejects Trump’s ceasefire proposal

By Peter Dickinson

Just days after US President Donald Trump announced plans for a new summit with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, their proposed Budapest meeting has been thrown into doubt by Russia’s rejection of a ceasefire in Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Economic Sanctions

UkraineAlert

Oct 21, 2025

Vladimir Putin’s war machine may finally be running out of fuel

By Vladyslav Davydov

Ukraine’s deep strikes on Russia’s energy industry have exposed Putin’s Achilles heel and helped demonstrate that the Russian economy is far more fragile than many in Moscow would like us to believe, writes Vladyslav Davydov .

Conflict
Drones

UkraineAlert

Oct 16, 2025

Putin seeks more foreign fighters amid mounting Russian losses in Ukraine

By David Kirichenko

With fewer and fewer Russians ready to volunteer for the war in Ukraine, Putin is seeking to recruit more foreign fighters from across Africa, Asia, and beyond, writes David Kirichenko.

Africa
Americas
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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
Zelensky, Zelenskiy, Zelenskyy: spelling confusion doesn’t help Ukraine  

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.

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Zelensky, Zelenskiy, Zelenskyy: spelling confusion doesn’t help Ukraine  

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
Zelensky, Zelenskiy, Zelenskyy: spelling confusion doesn’t help Ukraine  

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

Jun 9, 2019

Zelensky, Zelenskiy, Zelenskyy: spelling confusion doesn’t help Ukraine  

By Peter Dickinson

It would be unfair to expect Ukraine’s novice president to take over the reins of Europe’s largest country seamlessly. However, knowing how to spell his own name in English would seem a more realistic expectation. This did not appear to be the case during the first days of his administration, or at least that was […]

Disinformation
Media

UkraineAlert

Jun 4, 2019

How Kolomoisky does business in the United States

By Anders Åslund

The PrivatBank case shows that dirty money is not necessarily concentrated in the big cities and in real estate but can penetrate the real economy.

Corruption
Financial Regulation

UkraineAlert

Jun 4, 2019

Seven dangers of engaging with the occupied Donbas—and opportunities for the new Ukrainian president

By Petro Burkovskyi

Ukraine’s new president says he wants to end the Russian-backed war in the country’s east. However, it won’t be easy. There are at least seven dangers of engaging with the occupied territories of the Donbas. The first danger is that a class of highly educated and trained leaders is completely absent. All key positions, whether […]

Conflict
Corruption

UkraineAlert

Jun 4, 2019

Cheap gas is too costly

By Oleh Havrylyshyn

On May 20, Volodymyr Zelenskiy was inaugurated Ukraine’s seventh president. In his inaugural address, he demonstrated a resoluteness that should put an end to the annoying journalistic cliché of a “comedian-president.” Taking such firm actions as dissolving parliament and requesting the resignations of key officials within minutes of taking office in front of the very […]

Central Europe
Energy Markets & Governance

UkraineAlert

Jun 4, 2019

Zelenskyy’s golden opportunity to challenge the oligarchs and bring real news to Ukraine’s airwaves

By Janek Lasocki

Over the past five years, the foundations have been laid for a quality public service broadcaster. If successful, it could make a profound difference to public debate in Ukraine.

Democratic Transitions
Elections

UkraineAlert

Jun 3, 2019

The right man for the right time  

By Andy Hunder

“God probably has a great sense of humor,” reckons Borys Gudziak, president of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv. The US-born archbishop transformed what was designed to be the Soviet communist party’s atheist ideology center in western Ukraine into a thriving catholic university. The irony of this transformation is not lost on him. Only […]

Civil Society
Nationalism

UkraineAlert

May 31, 2019

What Ukraine’s new president cannot afford to overlook

By Bohdan Nahaylo

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s resounding victory in April underscored Ukrainians’ desire for change. Proclaiming his commitment to overhauling the entire system, the new president has announced five short-term priorities: change the electoral law, restore criminal liability for unlawful enrichment, and remove the parliamentary immunity of deputies, as well as reform the legal system and eradicate corruption. […]

Conflict
Human Rights

UkraineAlert

May 30, 2019

A tale of two bridges

By Andrii Osadchuk

On May 25, Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko and his brother jumped up and down on a smart, new glass bridge in Kyiv, Ukraine. The video went viral and thousands crowded the pedestrian bridge that connects Volodymyr Hill with Khreschatyk Park. Destined to become one of the most popular attractions in the city as a result […]

Corruption
Political Reform

UkraineAlert

May 29, 2019

Will Zelenskiy put Ukraine’s interests first?

By Diane Francis

Americans and Europeans became worried about Kolomoisky’s power after Zelenskiy appointed the oligarch’s long-time lawyer, Andriy Bohdan, to head the government’s administration.

Corruption
Inclusive Growth

UkraineAlert

May 28, 2019

Zelenskiy sows confusion and another chance for change

By Oksana Bedratenko

Volodymyr Zelenskiy may be popular among Ukrainians, but he is getting the cold shoulder from its political elite. Ukraine’s new president has few friends in the parliament and government. Within days of taking office, Zelenskiy suffered a defeat in the Rada as the parliament has not considered his bill for a new electoral law. The […]

Fiscal and Structural Reform
International Financial Institutions
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