UkraineAlert

UkraineAlert

UkraineAlert is a comprehensive online publication that provides regular news and analysis on developments in Ukraine’s politics, economy, civil society, and culture. UkraineAlert sources analysis and commentary from a wide-array of thought-leaders, politicians, experts, and activists from Ukraine and the global community. UkraineAlert has become a major publication in Ukraine’s news landscape and has established itself not only through its quality of content but also significant partnerships with English, Ukrainian, and Russian-language media through the country.

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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

How history will judge Poroshenko

UkraineAlert Sep 3, 2026

Putin cannot defeat NATO but he could divide and discredit the alliance

By Peter Dickinson

If Russian President Vladimir Putin decides to attack NATO, his goal will be to divide and discredit the alliance rather than actually defeating it, writes Peter Dickinson.
Conflict Defense Policy
How history will judge Poroshenko

UkraineAlert Aug 27, 2026

Ukrainians are not superheroes with endless powers of resilience

By Lauren Van Metre, Elena Davlikanova

By celebrating Ukrainian resilience as an almost superhuman quality, the international community risks obscuring the much less glamorous reality that Ukrainians are actually ordinary people who have endured extraordinary violence for far too long, write Lauren Van Metre and Elena Davlikanova.
Civil Society Conflict
How history will judge Poroshenko

UkraineAlert Aug 25, 2026

A cultural renaissance is reshaping national identity in wartime Ukraine

By Davis Richardson

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is fueling a defiant cultural outpouring that is redefining and strengthening Ukrainian national identity in ways that challenge centuries of Kremlin imperialism, writes Davis Richardson.
Civil Society Conflict

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

May 18, 2021

Naftogaz drama highlights Ukraine’s politics of personal destruction

By Adrian Karatnycky

In Ukraine, it seems, no public leader leaves office without being subjected to a wave of invective, criticism, and scorn. This negative culture was on display recently during a turbulent leadership change at Naftogaz.

Energy Markets & Governance Political Reform

UkraineAlert

May 13, 2021

Putin’s key Ukraine ally charged with treason

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s leading pro-Kremlin politician, Viktor Medvedchuk, has been charged with treason this week as the Zelenskyy administration escalates its efforts to counter Russian influence in the country.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

May 13, 2021

Putin’s Ukraine War: EU warns Russia is “de facto integrating” occupied east

By Peter Dickinson

The European Union has warned that Russia is seeking to “de facto integrate” the Kremlin-controlled separatist republics of east Ukraine. The EU raised the alarm in a note to member states, Bloomberg reported on May 12.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

May 13, 2021

A new vision for Ukraine’s Prosecution Service

By Iryna Venediktova

Since Ukraine regained independence in 1991, successive attempts to reform the country’s prosecution service have met with only limited success. Efforts are now underway to change this disappointing picture.

Democratic Transitions Human Rights

UkraineAlert

May 11, 2021

Blinken Kyiv visit analysis: What next for US-Ukraine ties?

By Peter Dickinson

What can US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent visit to Kyiv tell us about the current state and future prospects for bilateral relations between America and Ukraine?

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

May 11, 2021

The only way to deter Putin is to arm Ukraine

By Yelyzaveta Yasko

Vladimir Putin continues to menace Ukraine with border region troop buildups and the threat of a major escalation in the seven-year war between the two countries. The best way for the West to deter Russia is to arm Ukraine.

Conflict Russia

UkraineAlert

May 10, 2021

Is Ukraine about to cut the Gordian knot of judicial reform?

By John Lough

Under pressure from its international partners, the Zelenskyy administration is again pushing to overhaul the procedures for appointing members of Ukraine’s 21-member High Council of Justice.

Democratic Transitions Political Reform

UkraineAlert

May 6, 2021

Blinken in Kyiv: US “stands strongly” with Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Kyiv on May 6 for a high-profile visit as Ukraine continues to face the threat of a major Russian escalation in the simmering seven-year war between the two countries.

Conflict Russia

UkraineAlert

May 6, 2021

Naftogaz fiasco risks undermining Ukraine

By Alan Riley and Suriya Jayanti

The recent decision to suspend the Naftogaz Supervisory Board and fire CEO Andriy Kobolyev risks undermining Ukraine’s security and exposing the country to greater dependence on Russian gas.

Geopolitics & Energy Security Russia

UkraineAlert

May 6, 2021

Ukraine’s inaccessible cities

By Iryna Ozymok

Ukraine's cities remain highly inaccessible for people with physical disabilities or limited mobility, but a growing number of civil society initiatives are helping to boost efforts to improve accessibility.

Civil Society Inclusive Growth
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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
How history will judge Poroshenko

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
How history will judge Poroshenko

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
How history will judge Poroshenko

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

Apr 24, 2019

How history will judge Poroshenko

By Alexander J. Motyl

The majority of Ukraine’s voters and pundits detest President Petro Poroshenko who lost his chance at a second term on April 21. However, history will prove them wrong and judge him as Ukraine’s most successful leader. Indeed, Poroshenko will go down in the annals as the man who consolidated Ukraine’s state, nation, democracy, and the […]

Democratic Transitions Elections

UkraineAlert

Apr 23, 2019

Why Poroshenko lost

By Dennis Soltys

On April 21, television star Volodymyr Zelenskiy crushed incumbent president Petro Poroshenko in the second round of Ukraine’s presidential election. Even though Zelenskiy has never held elected office, voters were so tired of corruption and economic stagnation that they were willing to take a risk. Zelenskiy ran an unusual campaign. He made few programmatic promises […]

Democratic Transitions Elections

UkraineAlert

Apr 23, 2019

Transition challenges for an outsider president

By Adrian Karatnycky

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, elected to Ukraine’s presidency Sunday in a landslide, may be one of the least prepared leaders to head a democracy in world history. Not only is he an outsider, whose main experience of politics has been to play a president in a satirical television program, he has done little to prepare for the job. […]

Democratic Transitions Elections

UkraineAlert

Apr 18, 2019

How the west helped put a comedian in reach of Ukraine’s presidency

By Mary Mycio

With polls putting Ukraine’s incumbent president Petro Poroshenko far behind TV actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy ahead of Sunday’s run-off election, it is worth considering how the West helped put this secretive comedian, backed by oligarchs, on the cusp of becoming commander-in-chief of a country at war with the Kremlin. A case in point occurred in February, […]

Conflict Elections

UkraineAlert

Apr 18, 2019

Don’t believe the hype. Presidential elections aren’t what matters in Ukraine

By Melinda Haring

There’s election fever in Kyiv, and with less than a week before Ukrainians go to the polls to likely elect an inexperienced comedian as their next president, the outcome is all but certain. Volodymyr Zelenskiy should easily defeat incumbent President Petro Poroshenko on April 21.      The far more interesting question is who will […]

Democratic Transitions Elections

UkraineAlert

Apr 17, 2019

What does it mean to be Ukrainian today?

By Bohdan Nahaylo

The day of judgement in the Ukrainian presidential election is almost upon us. This is not just a contest between two political contenders and their supporters, representing different backgrounds, styles, and constituencies, or even visions, but something more fundamental. It is a clash between the old and the new. Between traditional Ukraine, in the political […]

Defense Policy Elections

UkraineAlert

Apr 16, 2019

Three predictions for Ukraine’s presidential run-off

By Brian Mefford

Voters knew the first round of Ukraine’s presidential election on March 31 was a freebie, but they will make their vote count in the run-off on April 21. It was clear to the public that there would be no candidate who would receive 50 percent in round one, so Ukrainians were able to vote their […]

Elections Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 16, 2019

Is Zelenskiy really the Kremlin’s best hope in Ukraine?

By Peter Dickinson

In the first round of Ukraine’s presidential election, the leading pro-Russian candidate secured 11 percent of the vote. Compare this to 2010 when pro-Kremlin candidate Viktor Yanukovych received 49 percent. This dramatic decline reflects the scale of the damage done to Russian interests in Ukraine by Vladimir Putin’s ongoing war. Russian aggression has alienated millions […]

Conflict Elections

UkraineAlert

Apr 9, 2019

Will the elections give the Ukrainian economy the kick It needs?

By Anders Åslund

Between the two rounds of the presidential election, a strange calm has grasped Kyiv. The election billboards are gone, and so are the many local protests. The only drama takes place on the Internet, where the two remaining candidates duel with videos. This is a propitious moment to take the temperature of the Ukrainian economy. […]

Democratic Transitions Elections

UkraineAlert

Apr 8, 2019

Ukrainians are world champions at coping with crisis

By Peter Dickinson

The ability to recover from national crises is plugged into Ukraine’s DNA.

Democratic Transitions Elections
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