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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

Church Splits, and Putin Loses Big

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

Church Splits, and Putin Loses Big

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

Church Splits, and Putin Loses Big

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

Feb 27, 2025

The Finlandization fallacy: Ukrainian neutrality will not stop Putin’s Russia

By
Brian Mefford

Donald Trump seeks to broker a peace deal with Vladimir Putin but any attempt to impose neutrality on Ukraine could set the stage for further Russian aggression, writes Brian Mefford.

Conflict
European Union


UkraineAlert

Feb 25, 2025

US sides with Russia against Ukraine and Europe at the United Nations

By
Shelby Magid

A diplomatic clash at the UN has illustrated the dramatic divide that has emerged between the United States and Europe since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump just over one month ago, writes Shelby Magid.

Conflict
Freedom and Prosperity


UkraineAlert

Feb 25, 2025

Will a new Russia reset prove more successful than earlier attempts?

By
Leah Nodvin

The Trump administration is seeking to reset relations with Russia as part of a comprehensive shift in US foreign policy, but successive past Russia resets have ended in failure, writes Leah Nodvin.

Conflict
Economic Sanctions


UkraineAlert

Feb 20, 2025

Ukrainians are proudly democratic but resoundingly reject wartime elections

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s fight for democracy has been at the heart of the country’s struggle against the past two decades of escalating Russian aggression, but Ukrainians overwhelmingly reject the idea of staging dangerous wartime elections before peace is secured, writes Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Feb 20, 2025

Trump and Putin seek economic reset but businesses may not rush back to Russia

By
Edward Verona

As the Trump administration seeks to reset relations with Russia as part of a peace process to end the war in Ukraine, Moscow is pushing the idea of increased economic cooperation, writes Edward Verona.

Conflict
Corruption


UkraineAlert

Feb 18, 2025

Transatlantic alliance enters most challenging period since Suez crisis

By
Edward Verona

The conclusion that many observers are drawing from the 2025 Munich Security Conference is that the United States, at least during the Trump presidency, is no longer willing to guarantee European security, writes Edward Verona.

Conflict
European Union


UkraineAlert

Feb 18, 2025

Georgia’s pro-Kremlin authorities intensify crackdown on opposition

By
Mercedes Sapuppo

Georgia’s pro-Kremlin authorities presented new legislation in February that critics say will increase pressure on the country’s civil society and independent media while also placing additional restrictions on protests, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Feb 13, 2025

Ukrainian drones reportedly knock out 10 percent of Russian refining capacity

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s 2025 campaign of drone strikes on Russian energy infrastructure has succeeded in knocking out around one-tenth of Russia’s refining capacity, according to analysis by Reuters, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Feb 13, 2025

A Putin-friendly peace deal would be disastrous for global security

By
Ihor Smeshko

As US President Donald Trump announces the start of negotiations with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, Ihor Smeshko warns that a Putin-friendly compromise peace would have catastrophic consequences for the future of international security.

Conflict
International Norms


UkraineAlert

Feb 12, 2025

Europe must prepare to defend itself in an increasingly multipolar world

By
Mykola Bielieskov

With the United States looking to pivot away from Europe to Asia and a revisionist Russia openly embracing an expansionist agenda, European leaders must prepare to defend themselves in an increasingly multipolar world, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Conflict
Defense Industry

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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

Church Splits, and Putin Loses Big

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

Church Splits, and Putin Loses Big

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

Church Splits, and Putin Loses Big

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

Oct 18, 2018

Church Splits, and Putin Loses Big

By Stephen Blank

Ukraine has just won a tremendous victory by obtaining the right of autocephaly, or the right to constitute the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as fully independent and free of any subservience to Moscow. This victory represents a shattering blow to Vladimir Putin’s pretenses of a Russian world (Russkii Mir) and the entire arcana imperii (Imperial relics) […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 17, 2018

The New Cold War Could Learn a Lot from the Old One

By John E. Herbst

Territories between great powers—borderlands—have always been areas of strife. So it is with the countries caught between Russia and the West, those that were once part of the Soviet Union or firmly within its sphere of influence. Much of Europe has consolidated and, with the United States, established a lasting liberal democratic order, but Russia […]

Moldova The Caucasus

UkraineAlert

Oct 17, 2018

How Ukraine Can Avoid Disaster in 2019

By Taras Kuzio

Ukraine’s 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections are the most important since the country became independent nearly three decades ago. If next year’s elections follow those held in 2014 when five pro-reform political forces won a constitutional majority, Ukraine’s European integration and withdrawal from the Russian world will be assured by the next election cycle in […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 16, 2018

Ukraine, Anti-Semitism, Racism, and the Far Right​

By Adrian Karatnycky

October 14 saw the latest in a string of annual mass marches by the far right in Ukraine. As many as 10,000 people participated, mainly young men, chanting fiercely. A nighttime torchlight parade with signs proclaiming “We’ll return Ukraine to Ukrainians,” contained echoes of Nazi-style symbolism. Lax law enforcement and indifference by the security services to the operations of the far right is being noticed by extremists from abroad who […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 15, 2018

What Really Happened in Constantinople Last Week

By Cyril Hovorun

Last week Ukraine’s Orthodox Church got confirmation that it will likely receive the independence from Moscow that it has long sought. The issue is complex, and the terminology foreign to most readers. The issue of the Ukrainian church is similar to an iceberg. What appears above the surface is political, but the largest part underneath […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 14, 2018

Kyiv Patriarchate Vs. Moscow Patriarchate: David Triumphs Over Goliath

By Margo Gontar

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church will become independent. It’s hard to overestimate the significance of this change; Moscow will no longer have power over it. And that’s exactly what Russia cannot tolerate.

Civil Society Russia

UkraineAlert

Oct 11, 2018

Three more reasons why I’m optimistic about Ukraine

By Melinda Haring

There are plenty of principled, young and not-so-young people, in the pipeline.

Civil Society Corruption

UkraineAlert

Oct 9, 2018

Why Can’t Ukraine Kill Corruption?

By Mykola Vorobiov

Ukraine still struggles to overcome its core disease of corruption. Since the 2014 Euromaidan, a number of anticorruption institutions have been created in close cooperation with Western partners, including the United States. Among them are the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP), the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), and the Anti-Corruption […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 9, 2018

Vakarchuk Says Ukraine Needs New Leaders, But Will He Be One?

By Melinda Haring

For months now, political junkies and ordinary Ukrainians have debated whether their beloved rock star Slava Vakarchuk will run for president in 2019. He’s got massive name recognition throughout the country. Even more, he’s one of the only reform-minded candidates who might be able to unify Ukraine’s fractious opposition. Last week I caught up with […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 8, 2018

Ukraine’s Anticorruption Fight Hits a Brick Wall, and the Wall Has a Name

By Olena Halushka

On September 11, Oleksandr Avakov turned thirty and received the best birthday present ever: the corruption charges hanging over his head were dropped permanently. Oleksandr, who is the son of Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov—was suspected by NABU of cooking up a scheme to rip off the state to the tune of more than $520,000 […]

Ukraine
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