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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

Latest analysis


UkraineAlert

Feb 14, 2023

ECHR ruling confirms Russian invasion of Ukraine began in 2014

By
Zakhar Tropin

A recent ECHR ruling recognizing Russian control over so-called separatist republics in eastern Ukraine since 2014 is an important step forward in the quest to hold Moscow accountable for aggression against Ukraine.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Feb 14, 2023

The path to peace in Ukraine runs directly through Putin’s red lines

By
Oleksiy Goncharenko

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches the one-year mark, the Western response is still being undermined by exaggerated fears of escalation and misplaced concerns over the dangers of “provoking Putin,” writes Oleksiy Goncharenko.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Feb 9, 2023

Is Putin’s Russia heading for collapse like its Czarist and Soviet predecessors?

By
Taras Byk

Vladimir Putin’s disastrous invasion of Ukraine is sparking debate over the possibility of a new Russian collapse. Could today’s Russian Federation be facing the same fate as its Czarist and Soviet predecessors?

Central Asia
Civil Society


UkraineAlert

Feb 9, 2023

Vladimir Putin must not be allowed to bankrupt the Ukrainian breadbasket

By
Andriy Vadaturskyy

Ukraine’s strategically crucial agricultural sector has been hard hit by the full-scale Russian invasion of the country and desperately needs international support in order to survive in wartime conditions, writes Andriy Vadaturskyy.

Conflict
Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Feb 9, 2023

Countering Russian threats to global financial security

By
Benton Coblentz

Russia and its proxies have long exploited the rules-based global financial system for their personal gain and in service of Moscow’s geopolitical strategy, but the invasion of Ukraine has sparked calls for counter measures.

Conflict
Corruption


UkraineAlert

Feb 7, 2023

The Belarusian opposition can help defeat Putin in Ukraine

By
Stephen Nix, Mark Dietzen

Belarus has played a key supporting role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but the democratic Belarusian opposition recognizes that defeating Putin can lead to the downfall of their own dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

Belarus
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Feb 6, 2023

Hero Ukrainian medic: “Russia will not stop until it is stopped”

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukrainian military medic Yulia Paievska has a simple message for anyone who still believes in the possibility of a compromise peace with Putin’s Russia. “They will not stop until they are stopped,” she says.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Feb 6, 2023

Ukrainians are united in rejection of any compromise with the Kremlin

By
Mariia Zolkina

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches the one-year mark, an overwhelming majority of Ukrainians have faith in their country’s victory and reject the idea of a compromise peace with the Kremlin, writes Mariia Zolkina.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Feb 2, 2023

Russian presence at Paris Olympics risks normalizing Ukraine invasion

By
Mark Temnycky

The International Olympic Committee’s decision to allow Russian athletes to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics under a neutral flag has sparked outrage from critics who say it risks normalizing the genocidal invasion of Ukraine.

Conflict
France


UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2023

Ukrainian SMEs hold the key to the country’s economic revival

By
Seba Salim, Sarah Page

There is still no end in sight to the Russian invasion of Ukraine but the international community must not delay efforts to revive Ukraine’s economy by supporting the country’s vibrant SME sector.

Conflict
Economy & Business

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.

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Content

UkraineAlert

Feb 21, 2019

Ukraine’s Leading Presidential Candidates (Minus Poroshenko) Promise to Fight Corruption

By Olena Haluskha

In Ukraine, demand for a genuine fight against corruption is still extremely high. According to recent surveys, voters name corruption as one of the three biggest problems in Ukraine. Nine out of ten Ukrainians consider grand political corruption the greatest threat to the country, while 80 percent are convinced that the main reason for corruption […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 21, 2019

Why Zelenskiy Is the Only Decent Choice for Ukraine

By Willem Aldershoff

Ukraine’s presidential elections present a difficult choice for those who want to see the country of 44 million finish what it started in 2014. Sadly all reliable opinion polls indicate that experienced reform candidates have no chance of winning. Former Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko currently stands at around 8 percent and Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi […]

Ukraine

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