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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

Deep Dive: How Ukraine’s Presidential Candidates Plan to Win

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

Deep Dive: How Ukraine’s Presidential Candidates Plan to Win

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

Deep Dive: How Ukraine’s Presidential Candidates Plan to Win

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

Oct 31, 2025

Europe finally moves to ban Russian gas but potential loopholes remain

By
Aura Sabadus

The EU has recently moved to impose a full ban on Russian gas imports by 2028. After years of using energy exports to blackmail Europe and fund the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow is finally facing the loss of its last European costumers, writes Aura Sabadus.

Conflict
Economic Sanctions


UkraineAlert

Oct 30, 2025

Russia’s advance on Pokrovsk exposes Ukraine’s growing manpower crisis

By
Peter Dickinson

As Russian troops close in on the strategically crucial city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv’s growing manpower shortages are becoming increasingly apparent, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Oct 30, 2025

Belarusian balloons pose new threat in Putin’s hybrid war against Europe

By
Hanna Liubakova

Lithuanian officials have accused neighboring Belarus of using balloons to violate EU airspace and disrupt air traffic as part of the Kremlin’s ongoing hybrid war against Europe, writes Hanna Liubakova.

Belarus
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Oct 28, 2025

UN report: Russia targets civilians in systematic bid to depopulate Ukraine

By
Peter Dickinson

Russia is deliberately targeting Ukrainian civilians in a deadly drone strike campaign that aims to depopulate large parts of the country and constitutes a crime against humanity, according to a new United Nations report, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Oct 23, 2025

Russia’s ‘human safari’ in southern Ukraine is a warning to the world

By
Oleksandr Tolokonnikov

Russia’s escalating campaign of drone attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine’s Kherson region highlights the destructive power of modern drone technologies, writes Oleksandr Tolokonnikov.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Oct 23, 2025

US voices concern over Chinese support for Russia’s Ukraine invasion

By
Katherine Spencer

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has raised concerns over Chinese components in Russian military drones amid fresh allegations of Beijing’s mounting support for Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, writes Katherine Spencer.

China
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Oct 21, 2025

Budapest summit postponed as Putin rejects Trump’s ceasefire proposal

By
Peter Dickinson

Just days after US President Donald Trump announced plans for a new summit with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, their proposed Budapest meeting has been thrown into doubt by Russia’s rejection of a ceasefire in Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Economic Sanctions


UkraineAlert

Oct 21, 2025

Vladimir Putin’s war machine may finally be running out of fuel

By
Vladyslav Davydov

Ukraine’s deep strikes on Russia’s energy industry have exposed Putin’s Achilles heel and helped demonstrate that the Russian economy is far more fragile than many in Moscow would like us to believe, writes Vladyslav Davydov .

Conflict
Drones


UkraineAlert

Oct 16, 2025

Putin seeks more foreign fighters amid mounting Russian losses in Ukraine

By
David Kirichenko

With fewer and fewer Russians ready to volunteer for the war in Ukraine, Putin is seeking to recruit more foreign fighters from across Africa, Asia, and beyond, writes David Kirichenko.

Africa
Americas


UkraineAlert

Oct 16, 2025

Ukraine’s drone sanctions are working but don’t expect a Russian revolt

By
Christopher Isajiw

Ukraine’s long-range drone strike campaign has brought Putin’s invasion home to Russia but mounting domestic problems are unlikely to spark a rebellion against the Kremlin dictatorship, writes Christopher Isajiw.

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

Deep Dive: How Ukraine’s Presidential Candidates Plan to Win

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

Deep Dive: How Ukraine’s Presidential Candidates Plan to Win

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

Deep Dive: How Ukraine’s Presidential Candidates Plan to Win

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

Sep 17, 2018

Deep Dive: How Ukraine’s Presidential Candidates Plan to Win

By Olexiy Minakov

Ukraine’s presidential campaign season has unofficially begun. Almost half a year before the presidential race in March 2019, candidates have already settled on basic strategies. Let’s analyze their messages—how they separate themselves from their competitors and try to create an attractive image, what ideas “sell,” how they struggle with criticism, negativity, compromise, and ultimately, how […]

Russia Ukraine

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
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