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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

Jun 3, 2025

After Ukraine’s innovative airbase attacks, nowhere in Russia is safe

By
David Kirichenko

Ukraine carried out one of the most audacious operations in modern military history on June 1, using swarms of smuggled drones to strike four Russian airbases simultaneously and destroy a significant portion of Putin’s bomber fleet, writes David Kirichenko.

Artificial Intelligence
Conflict


UkraineAlert

May 29, 2025

UN probe: Russia’s ‘human safari’ in Ukraine is a crime against humanity

By
Peter Dickinson

UN investigators have concluded that a coordinated Russian campaign of deadly drone strikes targeting civilians in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region is a crime against humanity, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Drones


UkraineAlert

May 29, 2025

Judicial reform must be at the heart of Ukraine’s postwar recovery

By
Oleksandr Vasiuk

Amid the horror and the trauma of Russia’s ongoing invasion, Ukrainians now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to achieve transformational change in the country’s justice system. We must not miss this chance, writes Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Vasiuk.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

May 29, 2025

Fiber optic drones could play decisive role in Russia’s summer offensive

By
David Kirichenko

Russia’s emphasis on fiber optic drones is giving it a battlefield edge over Ukraine and may help Putin achieve a long hoped for breakthrough in his coming summer offensive, writes David Kirichenko.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

May 27, 2025

Russia is extinguishing all traces of Ukrainian identity in occupied Ukraine

By
Kateryna Odarchenko

Throughout occupied Ukraine, the Russian authorities are seeking to consolidate their control by eradicating all traces of Ukrainian statehood and national identity while imposing a reign of terror on the civilian population, writes Kateryna Odarchenko.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

May 27, 2025

Russia’s summer offensive could spark a new humanitarian crisis in Ukraine

By
Viktor Liakh, Melinda Haring

As the Russian army gears up for a major summer offensive, Ukraine could soon be facing its most serious humanitarian crisis since the initial phase of the full-scale invasion more than three years ago, write Viktor Liakh and Melinda Haring.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

May 21, 2025

Putin aims to destroy Ukraine and has zero interest in a compromise peace

By
Peter Dickinson

Russia’s ongoing campaign to destroy Ukraine as a state and as a nation is taking place in front of the watching world and makes a complete mockery of US-led efforts to broker some kind of compromise peace, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

May 20, 2025

US-Ukraine minerals deal creates potential for economic and security benefits

By
Svitlana Kovalchuk

The recently signed US-Ukrainian minerals deal places bilateral ties on a new footing and creates opportunities for long-term strategic partnership, writes Svitlana Kovalchuk.

Conflict
Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

May 20, 2025

How to prevent Ukraine’s booming defense sector from fueling global insecurity

By
Vitaliy Goncharuk

With the Ukrainian defense sector experiencing years of unprecedented growth in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion, it is important to prevent Ukraine’s innovative military technologies from fueling a new wave of international instability, writes Vitaliy Goncharuk.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

May 15, 2025

Russia’s aerial attacks on Ukrainian civilians must not go unpunished

By
Anastasiya Donets, Susan H. Farbstein 

Holding Russia legally accountable for the ongoing air offensive against Ukraine’s civilian population is particularly important as this form of total war looks set to make a return, write Anastasiya Donets and Susan H. Farbstein. 

Conflict
Defense Policy

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

Feb 9, 2018

What Do Ukraine, Congo, Cuba, North Korea, Tajikistan, and Venezuela Have in Common?

By Maxim Martynyuk

Since 2014, when a democratic revolution triumphed in Ukraine, there have been two kinds of reports coming from my country: those about Ukrainians’ heroic resistance against Russian aggression, and those about the corruption that is destroying the country. The truth, of course, is more nuanced and mundane: Ukraine is gradually advancing, sometimes with two steps […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 7, 2018

The View from Inside a Donetsk Prison

By Matthew Kupfer

When Russian-led separatists seized control of Donetsk in 2014, Ihor Kozlovsky did what many residents of the city were doing: he stayed put. But unlike others, Kozlovsky was not a supporter of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DNR). In fact, he was a Ukrainian patriot, a professor and world-renowned expert of comparative religion at Donetsk […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 7, 2018

Why Election Reform Should Be a Top Priority Now

By Andrew Fink

Election reform in Ukraine is finally gaining some momentum. In December, parliament passed in the first reading draft law #3112-1, which creates an open list proportional election system and makes it easier for small parties to win seats in parliament. In addition, the president’s long-awaited list of candidates for the Central Election Commission has finally […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 7, 2018

Ukraine Headed for Perfect Storm of Demographic Decline

By Peter Dickinson

In January, the Czech government announced plans to double its annual quota for Ukrainian fast-track migrant workers from 9,600 to 19,600. Three years ago, the quota had been just 3,800. Prague’s message is clear—Ukrainian workers are not merely welcome but vital to the Czech Republic’s economy. The Czechs are not the only ones in Central […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 6, 2018

Will Russia Reinterpret International Law and Get Away With It?

By James J. Coyle

Russia’s disinformation activities have reached a new level: the government is now attempting to reinterpret international law. And the international community appears to be largely ignoring these audacious, unlawful efforts. The latest effort began on January 14 when the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs, Konstantin Zatulin, acknowledged that Russia […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 6, 2018

Five Reasons Why Reform Is Not Dead in Ukraine

By Taras Kuzio

Western reports about Ukraine are inevitably laden with doom and gloom comments mentioning “stagnation,” “a crisis in reforms,” and even “counterrevolution.” Meanwhile, concerns are circulating that the United States and Europe have reached another cycle of Ukraine fatigue. But while Ukraine still has many reforms to undertake, this should not blind observers to the real […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2018

Documentary Reveals All that Glitters in Russia Is Not Gold

By Diane Francis

Russian corruption will cast its shadow over South Korea’s Winter Olympics that will be held between February 9 and 25. For decades, the Games, notably the winter ones, have handed Russia its greatest public relations coups. Unable to deliver decent living standards or democracy to its people, the Kremlin has concentrated instead on gold medals […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2018

Ministry of Health Gets Major Shot in the Arm

By Josh Cohen

Seven years ago Olga Stefanyshyna took a leap of faith. Pregnant with her second child, she left a secure job and—along with Dmitry Sherembei and Inna Boiko—established a new NGO called Patients of Ukraine. The organization strives to ensure that all Ukrainians receive the high-quality medications they deserve. Without offices, funds or salaries, Stefanyshyna and […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 31, 2018

Can Ukraine Survive Without the IMF?

By Sergey Fursa

Many were insulted by a letter from the International Monetary Fund to Ukraine’s presidential administration critical of the president’s bill on the High Anticorruption Court. Ukrainian VIPs proved to be touchy. Considering how they take offense at critical newspaper articles, imagine what they think when clerks, whom they find inferior, start writing to them directly. […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 31, 2018

Another Missed Opportunity: Russia Evades Designation for Religious Repression

By Clifford D. May and Thomas J. Reese, S.J.

In 2017, for the first time ever, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended that Russia be designated a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for the religious repression occurring there and for its exportation of such repression to Ukraine. USCIRF’s primary role is to monitor countries engaging in or tolerating “systematic, ongoing, egregious […]

Russia Ukraine