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

Q&A: Will scandal sink Poroshenko’s second term chances?

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
Q&A: Will scandal sink Poroshenko’s second term chances?

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
Q&A: Will scandal sink Poroshenko’s second term chances?

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

Jan 28, 2022

Ukrainian neutrality would not appease Putin or prevent further Russian aggression

By Stephen Blank

Anyone who believes Ukrainian neutrality would appease Vladimir Putin should bear in mind the fact that Ukraine was officially neutral when Russia first invaded the country back in 2014.

Conflict NATO

UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2022

The US must show leadership in countering Putin’s imperial ambitions

By Eugene Czolij

The United States needs to assume a strong leadership position in international efforts to counter Putin’s imperial ambitions. Putin has made clear what he wants. It is time for America to deliver an equally emphatic response.

Conflict Cybersecurity

UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2022

Inside Putin’s Ukraine obsession

By Taras Kuzio

When Russian President Vladimir Putin laments the fall of the USSR and speaks about the injustice of the post-Soviet settlement, he is really thinking of Russian imperialism and has Ukraine primarily in mind.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Jan 25, 2022

Survey: Western public backs stronger support for Ukraine against Russia

By Carl Bildt, Aleksander Kwasniewski, Victor Pinchuk, Anders Fogh Rasmussen

A recent six-country opinion survey commissioned by the Yalta European Strategy and Victor Pinchuk Foundation has identified strong Western public backing for an assertive policy in support of Ukraine.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Jan 25, 2022

Ukrainian diaspora says Canada must do more to back Ukraine against Putin

By Diane Francis

Members of Canada’s large Ukrainian diaspora are growing increasingly frustrated with what they see as their government’s failure to stand with Ukraine as it faces the prospect of a full-scale Russian invasion.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jan 24, 2022

Putin’s threatened invasion is already hitting the Ukrainian economy hard

By Anders Åslund

While the world waits to see if Vladimir Putin will proceed with his threatened invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s menacing military posture is already hitting the Ukrainian economy hard.

Conflict Corruption

UkraineAlert

Jan 23, 2022

Disarming Putin’s history weapon

By Bohdan Vitvitsky

Ever since 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin has weaponized history as part of his hybrid war against Ukraine and sought to whitewash what is a deeply troubling Russian record of atrocity and oppression.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Jan 23, 2022

Ukraine Crisis: Putin the gambler may have gone too far to back down

By Timothy Ash

Russian President Vladimir Putin has gained the world's attention with his threat to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine but he may now feel he must act or risk a serious loss of credibility on the international stage.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Jan 22, 2022

Stop asking what Putin wants and start asking what Ukrainians want

By Mychailo Wynnyckyj

Fears of a major European war have sparked endless speculation over what Putin may want and how the West should react, but Ukraine itself has been largely reduced to the status of bystander in its own national drama.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jan 19, 2022

Don’t believe Putin’s propaganda. Sanctions are hurting Russia.

By Harley Balzer

International sanctions imposed on Russia since 2014 in response to Moscow's attack on Ukraine continue to have a negative impact on the country's economy despite Kremlin efforts to claim otherwise.

Conflict Defense Technologies
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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
Q&A: Will scandal sink Poroshenko’s second term chances?

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
Q&A: Will scandal sink Poroshenko’s second term chances?

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
Q&A: Will scandal sink Poroshenko’s second term chances?

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 28, 2019

Q&A: Will scandal sink Poroshenko’s second term chances?

By Melinda Haring

On February 25, investigative journalists accused President Petro Poroshenko’s close associates of getting rich by smuggling spare parts for military equipment from Russia. The Bihus.Info report claims that the son of Oleh Hladkovskiy, deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, was the mastermind behind a scheme to buy spare parts from Russia in 2015. […]

Conflict Corruption

UkraineAlert

Feb 28, 2019

Which Ukrainians will lose most if Zelenskiy becomes president?

By Alexander J. Motyl

It goes without saying that all Ukrainians will be losers if and when a dreadfully inexperienced and politically ignorant comedian takes charge of Ukraine’s ship of state. As the economy goes into a tailspin, corruption flourishes, and Russian President Vladimir Putin bares his teeth, all Ukrainians will be far worse off than they are today. […]

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Feb 28, 2019

Ukraine’s athletes shine through national gloom

By Mark Temnycky

Five years after the Euromaidan, most analysis of Ukraine is grim. It tends to focus on the patchy reforms that have been put in place, the country’s endemic corruption, the ongoing war in its east, and the current unpredictable presidential election campaign. Hardly any of the coverage is positive. But that’s not the full picture. […]

Civil Society Politics & Diplomacy

UkraineAlert

Feb 27, 2019

The Eurovision guide to modern Ukrainian history

By Peter Dickinson

Anyone who feels that Eurovision has become too politicized need look no further than Ukraine for confirmation. Nobody takes the song contest quite as seriously as the Ukrainians, who treat it as an extension of foreign policy complete with furious nationwide debates and heavy-handed government interventions. The latest scandal, which has seen the winner of […]

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Feb 26, 2019

The Audacity of Ulana Suprun

By Yuri Polakiwsky

There was a distinct sense of the theatrical inside and outside Kyiv’s Administrative Court #2 earlier this month as it decided the fate of Dr. Ulana Suprun, Ukraine’s acting minister of health. Leaving the proceedings, one was left with at least two seemingly absurd questions: what was this showdown all about and why was an […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 22, 2019

Is the Ukrainian Army Worthy of Greater Investment?

By Dennis Soltys

Last year Washington finally gave Kyiv the javelin missiles it had been begging for. But the javelins are mostly symbolic and won’t change much on the frontlines. For more than six months, Washington has been talking about giving Ukraine additional arms to improve its air and naval defenses. These arms are more likely after Russian […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 22, 2019

Let’s Make a Deal, Vladimir

By Johnny Herbst

The ongoing political standoff in Venezuela offers an opportunity for Washington to get something it wants: a democratically elected president in Venezuela and one less vocal Russian ally in its backyard. The Trump Administration recently announced that it plans to leave Syria without any conditions. Russia is involved in both Venezuela and Syria, so if […]

Russia Syria

UkraineAlert

Feb 21, 2019

Ukraine’s Leading Presidential Candidates (Minus Poroshenko) Promise to Fight Corruption

By Olena Haluskha

In Ukraine, demand for a genuine fight against corruption is still extremely high. According to recent surveys, voters name corruption as one of the three biggest problems in Ukraine. Nine out of ten Ukrainians consider grand political corruption the greatest threat to the country, while 80 percent are convinced that the main reason for corruption […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 21, 2019

Why Zelenskiy Is the Only Decent Choice for Ukraine

By Willem Aldershoff

Ukraine’s presidential elections present a difficult choice for those who want to see the country of 44 million finish what it started in 2014. Sadly all reliable opinion polls indicate that experienced reform candidates have no chance of winning. Former Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko currently stands at around 8 percent and Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 19, 2019

Why a Zelenskyy presidency would be a disaster for Ukraine

By Alexander J. Motyl

The world is in turmoil, Russia occupies part of Ukraine, reforms in Ukraine still have a way to go, and democracy is in retreat in much of Europe. One would think Ukrainians would be worried. One would think they would want an experienced person at the helm. Instead, they may be about to elect the […]

Europe & Eurasia Ukraine
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