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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 the Sajdik Plan for the Donbas Will Not Work

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

Why the Sajdik Plan for the Donbas Will Not Work

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

Why the Sajdik Plan for the Donbas Will Not Work

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

Mar 19, 2024

Ukraine’s partners should link wartime aid to continued reform progress

By
Mykhailo Zhernakov, Nestor Barchuk

It is crucial for Ukraine’s international allies to link continued wartime financial assistance with the implementation of reforms, write Mykhailo Zhernakov and Nestor Barchuk.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Mar 14, 2024

Peace is impossible until Ukraine is safe from future Russian aggression

By
Mykola Bielieskov

With Russia openly committed to destroying the Ukrainian state and nation, a durable peace will only prove possible once Ukraine’s national security is guaranteed, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Mar 14, 2024

Ukraine’s Security Council Secretary: The West is still in denial over Russia

By
Peter Dickinson

Western leaders have yet to grasp the true scale of the threat posed by Putin’s Russia and are in danger of suffering an history defeat, warns the Secretary of Ukraine’s Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Mar 12, 2024

Ukraine expands EU energy exports in fresh display of wartime resilience

By
Aura Sabadus

Ukraine is boosting energy exports to the European Union in the latest demonstration of the country’s remarkable wartime resilience, writes Aura Sabadus.

Conflict
European Union


UkraineAlert

Mar 12, 2024

Mood darkens in Odesa amid Russian bombardment and Western hesitancy

By
Michael Bociurkiw

The mood in Ukrainian Black Sea port city Odesa has darkened in recent weeks amid a surge in Russian bombing attacks and growing doubts over the future of Western military aid, writes Michael Bociurkiw.

Conflict
Drones


UkraineAlert

Mar 11, 2024

Ukraine’s Oscar win puts Russia’s war crimes back in international spotlight

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s historic Oscar win for the documentary film “20 Days in Mariupol” puts Russia’s war crimes firmly back into the international spotlight, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Mar 7, 2024

Vladimir Putin is losing Russia’s long war against Ukrainian identity

By
Danylo Lubkivsky

Vladimir Putin is the latest in a long line of Russian rulers who have attempted to erase Ukrainian national identity and force Ukrainians to identify as Russians, writes Danylo Lubkivsky.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Mar 5, 2024

Putin is on an historic mission and will not stop until he is finally defeated

By
Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin believes he is on an historic mission to reclaim “Russian lands” and will inevitably go further if he is not stopped in Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Mar 4, 2024

“Ukraine is Russia”: Medvedev reveals imperial ambitions fueling invasion

By
Taras Kuzio

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has underlined the imperialism fueling the invasion of Ukraine by rejecting Ukrainian statehood and declaring “Ukraine is definitely Russia,” writes Taras Kuzio.

Conflict
Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Mar 2, 2024

Ukraine needs enhanced air defenses as Russia expands missile arsenal

By
Olivia Yanchik

With Russia now reportedly receiving missiles from both Iran and North Korea, it is time for Ukraine’s partners to step up their own deliveries of air defense systems, writes Olivia Yanchik.

Conflict
Drones

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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 the Sajdik Plan for the Donbas Will Not Work

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

Why the Sajdik Plan for the Donbas Will Not Work

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 the Sajdik Plan for the Donbas Will Not Work

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 11, 2019

Why the Sajdik Plan for the Donbas Will Not Work

By Maksym Khylko

In the last year, there hasn’t been any new momentum in the effort to bring peace to Ukraine. Amid this long-lasting stalemate, the Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung recently published an interview with Martin Sajdik, special representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, under the ambitious title “We Have a New Plan […]

OSCE
Russia

UkraineAlert

Feb 8, 2019

Legal Threats to Minister Imperil Ukraine’s Health Care

By Melinda Haring

Ulana Suprun just wants to get back to work turning around Ukraine’s feeble healthcare system. But she can’t focus on reforms now: the fifty-six-year-old radiologist turned health minister of Ukraine is under attack. Worst of all, she’s not sure who is behind it. On February 5, Kyiv’s Regional Administrative Court ruled to suspend Suprun’s authority […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 7, 2019

Is the Kremlin Really Afraid of a Farmer?

By Vitalii Rybak

Birthdays are typically lavish affairs in Ukraine. But not for Volodymyr Balukh, who will spend his third birthday in prison for the simple act of displaying a Ukrainian flag in Crimea. On February 8, the Ukrainian farmer turns 48. His case shows how Moscow harshly punishes Ukrainians in Crimea who have the temerity to protest […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 6, 2019

Q&A: Why Are Ukraine’s Last Reformers Being Kicked Out?

By Melinda Haring

Less than two months before Ukraine’s presidential election, two independent-minded officials are being forced out. On February 5, Kyiv’s Regional Administrative Court ruled to suspend Detroit born physician Ulana Suprun’s authority to make any decisions or sign any documents as the acting minister of health. The court pointed to a regulation that limits an acting […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 3, 2019

Rating Ukraine’s Presidential Candidates

By Alexander J. Motyl and Dennis Soltys

Three candidates have the most plausible chance of winning the first round in Ukraine’s March 31st presidential election: President Petro Poroshenko; former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko; and Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a politically untested comedian whose popular television show, Servant of the People, portrays him as an intrepid corruption fighter. Zelenskiy’s popularity can be explained as a […]

Russia
Ukraine
This is the picture

UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2019

Two Big Problems with Ukraine’s Elections that No One Else Has Spotted

By Mykola Vorobiov

There are many reasons to worry about Ukraine’s elections this year. The 2019 elections may be as defining as those in 2014, when Ukraine left the Russian world for good. However, so far, most analysts have missed two factors that may play an outsized role. First, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov is not only a sitting […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2019

Russia looks to strike at Ukraine’s south again?

By Andreas Umland

An escalation at the Azov Sea will threaten social stability in southeastern Ukraine.

Conflict
Maritime Security

UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2019

Poroshenko Runs on Stay the Course Platform

By Ruslan Minich and Vitalii Rybak

Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko finally announced that he will seek reelection at a packed forum on January 29 in Kyiv. Held on the anniversary of the battle of Kruty when students and Cossacks died defending Kyiv from Bolshevik forces in 1918, organizers were hoping to stress the symbolism: Ukraine started to move away from Russia […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 31, 2019

The Right Person at the Right Time

By Carl Gershman

Editor’s note: Nadia Diuk died on January 23, 2019. She worked at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) for thirty-two years. Carl Gershman, president of the NED, delivered this eulogy at the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family in Washington on January 31, 2019  In the days since Nadia passed, the National Endowment […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 31, 2019

Ukraine Needs Carrots and Sticks to Fight Corruption

By Oleksandr Danylyuk

There is no silver bullet when it comes to defeating systemic corruption in any country. Despite many opportunities, Ukraine has failed to achieve economic success due to its entrenched corruption which offsets the positive effects from many of the hard-earned and difficult reforms we have implemented since independence.

Ukraine
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