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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

Jul 30, 2025

A Ukraine without Ukrainians: Putin is erasing Europe’s largest nation

By
Peter Dickinson

Russia is systematically erasing all traces of Ukrainian national identity throughout occupied Ukraine as Vladimir Putin pursues an extreme form of eliminationist imperialism in the heart of twenty-first century Europe, writes Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 30, 2025

Ukraine’s democracy is the key to the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration

By
Alyona Getmanchuk

While Ukraine currently faces a range of unique challenges, this cannot justify neglecting democratic principles. On the contrary, defending the democratic gains of recent decades is vital if further progress toward Euro-Atlantic integration is to be achieved, writes Alyona Getmanchuk.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 29, 2025

Trump offered Putin victory in Ukraine. Why did Putin refuse?

By
Peter Dickinson

Trump thought he could get a peace deal in Ukraine by offering Putin generous terms that amounted to a Russian victory. But Putin rejected Trump’s offer because he cannot accept anything less that Ukraine’s complete capitulation, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jul 29, 2025

US ambassador: China believes it is waging a proxy war through Russia

By
Mykola Bielieskov

US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker has attacked China for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and accused Beijing of waging a “proxy war” to distract the West, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

China
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 25, 2025

Ukraine’s supporters should prioritize unity and focus on defeating Russia

By
Pavlo Grod

Wartime Ukraine needs unity. Even when the country’s supporters bitterly disagree, it is important to remember exactly what is at stake, writes Pavlo Grod.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 24, 2025

Wartime protests prove Ukraine’s democratic instincts are still strong

By
Peter Dickinson

This week’s nationwide protests are a reminder that Ukraine’s grassroots democratic instincts remain exceptionally strong despite the current wartime conditions in the country, writes Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 24, 2025

Ukraine is now an indispensable security partner for the US and Europe

By
Oleksiy Goncharenko

Ukraine’s million-strong army and unique experience of the twenty-first-century battlefield makes it an indispensable security partner for the United States and Europe, writes Oleksiy Goncharenko.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Jul 22, 2025

Ukraine rocked by first wartime protests amid attacks on anti-corruption agencies

By
Andrew D’Anieri

For more than a decade, Ukrainians have been fighting a two-front war: against Russian aggression and against high-level political corruption. So it’s puzzling to see Kyiv move to gut independent anti-corruption agencies, writes Andrew D’Anieri.

Civil Society
Corruption


UkraineAlert

Jul 21, 2025

NATO is unprepared for the growing threat posed by Putin’s Russia

By
Elena Davlikanova, Yevhenii Malik

NATO officials believe Russia could attack the alliance within five years but NATO members are still not ready to face the threat posed by Vladimir Putin’s expansionist regime, write Elena Davlikanova and Yevhenii Malik.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Jul 21, 2025

Wartime Ukraine must translate international attention into investment

By
Viktor Liakh, Anna Derevyanko

The 2025 Ukraine Recovery Conference showed that the country has the political backing and business potential to emerge stronger than ever, but this potential is not enough. The time for action and investment is now, write Viktor Liakh and Anna Derevyanko.

Conflict
Corruption

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

Sep 11, 2018

Why We Must Speak Out about Oleg Sentsov Now

By Natalia Arno

Oleg Sentsov, a Ukrainian filmmaker imprisoned by Russian forces in 2014, is on the verge of death. More than one hundred days ago, he began a hunger strike to demand that Russian President Vladimir Putin free sixty-four Ukrainian political prisoners being held in Russia.  Since then, Sentsov has lost almost 70 pounds and suffered cardiac complications. In early August, he confided to his lawyer that “the end was near” and this […]

UkraineAlert

Sep 10, 2018

Why Independence for Ukraine’s Orthodox Church Is an Earthquake for Putin

By Taras Kuzio

The creation of an autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church is Ukraine’s ultimate answer to Putin’s aggression.

Civil Society Russia

UkraineAlert

Sep 10, 2018

New Law Invites Corruption but Ukraine’s Government Is Actually Fixing It

By Paul Thomas

Corruption remains Ukraine’s greatest scourge. But while there are ample examples of it around the country, signs are emerging that government is heeding civil society’s cries for change. A new tax policy implemented in July 2018 is a key example: the fight to change this policy in order to directly reduce corruption is being waged […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 10, 2018

How to Lose a Presidential Election Before It Even Starts: Ukraine’s Top Reform Party Turns on Itself

By Melinda Haring

Ukraine’s Maidan reformers had a real shot at reaching a tipping point and changing the country once and for all. In 2014, the reform-oriented Samopomich party, led by Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi, performed far better than expected in the parliamentary elections just a few months after street protests ejected pro-Russian President Victor Yanukovych. The Lviv-based […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 7, 2018

Why Does the Press Still Take Moscow at Its Word?

By Paul Niland

Reporting on the recent killing of Alexander Zakharchenko in Donetsk, Ukraine, has enraged many, and with good reason. Far too many reports from top outlets included the phrase or something similar, “Moscow denies sending regular troops and heavy weaponry to Ukraine, the rebels, or separatists.” Of course, Moscow regularly issues such denials. However, the time […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 7, 2018

Forget Javelins. What Ukraine Needs to Get Putin’s Attention

By Stephen Blank

US Ambassador Kurt Volker recently toldThe Guardian that the United States was prepared to offer Ukraine new weapons to defend itself. There is no doubt that Ukraine needs these weapons; in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, Moscow is waging a simultaneous military and economic war against Kyiv. It has blockaded the Sea […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 6, 2018

The Past Comes Back to Haunt Putin’s Man in Ukraine

By Mykola Vorobiov

A current controversy brewing in Ukraine illustrates just how relevant the Soviet past is to Ukraine’s present and future—and just how powerful the forces are that aim to reconnect Ukraine and its former hegemon, Russia.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 5, 2018

Straight Talk: Odesa Businessman Says Foreign Investors Aren’t Worried About What You Think

By Oksana Bedratenko

Andrey Stavnitser is a second generation businessman with a clean reputation in Ukraine. He’s also young and ambitious. The bushy-bearded thirty-six-year old turned his father’s TiS company into the largest private port in Ukraine and the largest of all Ukraine’s ports by dry cargo turnover. By investing aggressively in infrastructure, Stavnitser is proving that the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 5, 2018

Mass detention of journalists exposes emerging shifts in Belarus

By Maxim Eristavi

The crackdown is the product of a transitioning Belarus, in which the forces of modernization are clashing with efforts to slow down or even halt the changes.

Belarus

UkraineAlert

Aug 27, 2018

Why John McCain Scared Putin

By Stephen B. Nix

Many accolades will be written about Senator John McCain this week and deservedly so. He was a consistent champion for democracy and human rights throughout the world, and a man who always stood by his principles. In his role as chairman of the International Republican Institute (IRI), McCain was considered a champion, particularly in the […]

Russia Ukraine