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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

Why a Zelenskyy presidency would be a disaster for Ukraine

UkraineAlert May 13, 2025

Drone superpower: Ukrainian wartime innovation offers lessons for NATO

By David Kirichenko

Today’s Ukraine is now a drone superpower with an innovative domestic defense industry that can provide its NATO allies with important lessons in the realities of twenty-first century warfare, writes David Kirichenko.
Conflict Defense Industry
Why a Zelenskyy presidency would be a disaster for Ukraine

UkraineAlert May 6, 2025

The shadow of 1930s appeasement hangs over US-led peace talks

By Oleksandr Merezhko

As the world prepares to mark the eightieth anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, the shadow of events leading up to World War II hangs over efforts to end Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine, writes Oleksandr Merezhko.
Conflict European Union
Why a Zelenskyy presidency would be a disaster for Ukraine

UkraineAlert Apr 17, 2025

The Ukrainian army is now Europe’s most credible security guarantee

By Pavlo Verkhniatskyi

As Europe confronts the new geopolitical realities of an expansionist Russia and an isolationist United States, the continent’s most credible security guarantee is now the Ukrainian Armed Forces, writes Pavlo Verkhniatskyi.
Conflict Defense Industry

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Sep 21, 2024

Ukraine’s expanding drone fleet is flying straight through Putin’s red lines

By Giorgi Revishvili

Ukraine’s rapidly expanding campaign of long-range drone strikes is flying straight through Vladimir Putin’s red lines and could help persuade Kyiv’s Western partners to lift restrictions on attacks inside Russia, writes Giorgi Revishvili.

Conflict Defense Technologies

UkraineAlert

Sep 19, 2024

Compromising with the Kremlin in Ukraine will only embolden Putin

By Kateryna Odarchenko, Elena Davlikanova

JD Vance recently claimed a Trump peace plan would include letting Russia retain occupied areas of Ukraine. But any concessions to the Kremlin will only embolden Putin and invite more war, write Kateryna Odarchenko and Elena Davlikanova.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Sep 19, 2024

Ukraine’s innovative defense industry can play a key role in Western security

By Pavlo Verkhniatskyi

Ukraine’s innovative defense industry has emerged as the country’s secret weapon in the war with Russia and can a play a key role in strengthening the West, writes Pavlo Verkhniatskyi.

Conflict Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

Sep 17, 2024

Putin is becoming entangled in his own discredited red lines

By Peter Dickinson

Putin is attempting to impose a new red line over the use of Western long-range missiles inside Russia, but Ukraine has already been using these weapons in occupied regions claimed by Russia for more than a year, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Sep 17, 2024

Countering Russia’s campaign to erase Ukrainian cultural identity

By Mercedes Sapuppo

International initiatives by Google and others are helping to preserve Ukraine’s national heritage amid a Russian campaign to erase Ukrainian cultural identity and destroy heritage sites across the country, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Sep 17, 2024

Time to make Russia worry about the West’s red lines in Ukraine

By Mykola Bielieskov

Even talking about Western red lines in Ukraine will no doubt be seen as too provocative by some, but it is now obvious that allowing Russia uncontested escalation dominance has been a costly blunder, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Sep 12, 2024

Concerns grow over possible Russian sabotage of undersea cables

By Aleksander Cwalina

The United States has recently detected indications of increased Russian military activity around key undersea cables, fueling concerns over a possible escalation in the Kremlin’s hybrid war against the west, writes Aleksander Cwalina.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Sep 12, 2024

Why Ukraine will remain central to the future of European security

By Silvester Nosenko

Although it is currently common to talk about the West as a unitary actor in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian War, the stakes actually differ significantly on the two opposite sides of the Atlantic, writes Silvester Nosenko.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Sep 10, 2024

Ukraine’s biggest wartime government shakeup prompts muted reaction in Kyiv

By Andrew D’Anieri

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presided over his government’s largest wartime reshuffle in early September, with nine ministries getting new permanent leadership, writes Andrew D’Anieri.

Conflict Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

Sep 10, 2024

Escalation management is the appeasement of the 21st century

By Peter Dickinson

The West’s emphasis on avoiding escalation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the modern equivalent of the appeasement policies that emboldened Hitler and set the stage for WWII, writes Peter Dickinson.

Defense Policy Defense Technologies
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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
Why a Zelenskyy presidency would be a disaster for 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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Why a Zelenskyy presidency would be a disaster for 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
Why a Zelenskyy presidency would be a disaster for 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

Feb 19, 2019

Why a Zelenskyy presidency would be a disaster for Ukraine

By Alexander J. Motyl

The world is in turmoil, Russia occupies part of Ukraine, reforms in Ukraine still have a way to go, and democracy is in retreat in much of Europe. One would think Ukrainians would be worried. One would think they would want an experienced person at the helm. Instead, they may be about to elect the […]

Europe & Eurasia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 19, 2019

How Ukraine’s Leading Comedian Pulled Ahead in Polls

By Ruslan Minich

On February 7, hundreds of Facebook users in Ukraine posted videos with red nose filters. Everyone ended up looking like a clown, and that was precisely the point. Ukrainians are clowns because they’ve allowed the country’s political elites to rob them blind, keeping salaries and social benefits low. This was part of a flash mob […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 19, 2019

Ukraine Has Reached a Tipping Point

By Oksana Markarova

Elections may be on the horizon, but I firmly believe that reforms will continue through 2020 and beyond. Now that Ukraine has enshrined EU and NATO accession as the fundamental direction of the country, whoever comes to power, Ukraine’s pro-western economic development and orientation cannot be reversed.

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 14, 2019

What the death of the INF Treaty means for Kyiv

By Steven Pifer

With the United States and Russia no longer subject to the INF Treaty’s limits, it would be hard to argue that Ukraine and the other states should remain constrained by the agreement. If Kyiv chooses, it can invoke the same treaty right to withdraw that Washington exercised two weeks ago.

Arms Control Nuclear Nonproliferation

UkraineAlert

Feb 14, 2019

What Putin Must Hear in Munich

By Hanna Hopko

The international community is preparing for the annual Munich Security Conference, which will host more than 500 guests, including forty heads of state and government. I too will attend. Before the conference, I spent part of the week in Kramatorsk, an industrial city in eastern Ukraine, which underwent Russian occupation but was freed by the Ukrainian army. Four years ago, on February […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 13, 2019

When a Pencil Is a Rocket Launcher: How We Talk about War

By Vitaliy Deynega

In Kyiv, the word karandash (pencil) is an ordinary word one might encounter in an office supply store or an elementary school. But in eastern Ukraine, where the conflict between Ukraine and Russia has killed more than 10,000, displaced another 1.7 million, and injured thousands of civilians, karandash means something else. The Ukrainian military uses […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 13, 2019

We Do Far More than Meddle in Foreign Elections, Top Putin Aide Taunts

By Volodymyr Yermolenko

On February 11, Vladislav Surkov, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s key aides and ideologists, published a reveling article called “Putin’s Long State.” It is not an ordinary piece; it makes the case for a new kind of Russian expansionism, and it should be read closely and taken seriously.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 12, 2019

Sure, Ukraine’s Not Going to Elect a Pro-Russian President, but There Are Many Other Ways the Kremlin Can Interfere

By Sofiya Kominko

Russia’s attack on Ukrainian ships in the Sea of Azov on November 25 may have been a probe to test the West’s reaction before the launch of other offensives aimed at destabilizing Ukraine at a crucial time. 2019 is Ukraine’s election year. And it is one of double importance with presidential and parliamentary elections taking place six […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 12, 2019

Ukrainian Comedian Tops Polls but Race Far from Over

By Katie LaRoque

In a few weeks, a comedian may become the next president of Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, an unlikely candidate who plays an ordinary history teacher that becomes president of Ukraine on his popular TV series, Servant of the People, ranks as one of the most popular candidates in Ukraine’s March presidential election. Zelenskiy’s character, Vasyl Petrovych […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 11, 2019

New Political Platform in Ukraine Deserves Second Look

By Vitalii Rybak

On February 4, a group of Ukrainian politicians and activists announced the formation of a new political platform. In Ukraine, this would hardly make news. New political platforms are announced regularly, especially during election years. But this new platform, the Euro-Atlantic Agenda for Ukraine, deserves a second look. (We previously reported that this platform was […]

NATO Russia
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