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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

The Window for Reform May Be Closing in Ukraine, But It’s Still Wide Open in Kyiv

UkraineAlert
Jan 20, 2026

Ukraine’s best security guarantee is the ability to strike back inside Russia

By
Serhii Kuzan

With Kyiv’s Western allies unlikely to risk war with Russia, Ukraine’s most realistic security guarantee remains a strong military coupled with the ability to strike targets deep inside Russia, writes Serhii Kuzan.

Conflict
Defense Policy

The Window for Reform May Be Closing in Ukraine, But It’s Still Wide Open in Kyiv

UkraineAlert
Jan 15, 2026

Veterans can shape the future of Ukrainian democracy

By
Vasyl Sehin

The participation of military veterans in Ukraine’s political life has the potential to dramatically strengthen Ukrainian democracy and safeguard the country’s historic transition from centuries of Russian autocracy, writes Vasyl Sehin.

Conflict
Democratic Transitions

The Window for Reform May Be Closing in Ukraine, But It’s Still Wide Open in Kyiv

UkraineAlert
Jan 8, 2026

Ukraine’s robot army will be crucial in 2026 but drones can’t replace infantry

By
David Kirichenko

Ukraine’s growing robot army of land drones will play a vital role in the country’s defense during 2026, but they are not wonder weapons and cannot serve as a miracle cure for Kyiv’s manpower shortages, writes David Kirichenko.

Artificial Intelligence
Conflict

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Aug 11, 2023

Why Putin’s Russia cannot accept its borders

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Glenn Chafetz, John Sipher</span>

Vladimir Putin's attempts to justify the invasion of Ukraine as a just war to reunite historically Russian lands reflect the expansionist ideology at the heart of modern Russia's imperial identity, write Glenn Chafetz and John Sipher.


Conflict

Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Aug 10, 2023

Russia accused of deliberately targeting journalists in Ukraine

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Mercedes Sapuppo</span>

A series of Russian airstrikes on civilian targets known to be popular among international correspondents covering the invasion of Ukraine has sparked accusations that the Kremlin is deliberately targeting journalists, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.


Conflict

Human Rights


UkraineAlert

Aug 10, 2023

New report highlights evidence of escalating Russian genocide in Ukraine

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Kristina Hook</span>

A new international report has identified evidence that Russia's campaign of genocide in Ukraine is escalating as the full-scale invasion of the country approaches the one-and-a-half-year mark, writes Kristina Hook.


Conflict

Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Aug 10, 2023

F-16 delays leave Ukraine exposed to deadly Russian air superiority

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Olivia Yanchik</span>

A clear commitment to send Ukraine a fleet of F-16s would do much to repair the damage to Western credibility caused by earlier delays. Crucially, it could also save countless Ukrainian lives, writes Olivia Yanchik.


Conflict

Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Aug 8, 2023

Odesa urgently needs an air defense upgrade as Russia escalates airstrikes

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Michael Bociurkiw</span>

Ukrainian Black Sea port Odesa has recently been hit by a series of Russian air attacks that have caused devastation in the city's UNESCO-listed historic center and highlighted the need for improved air defenses, writes Michael Bociurkiw.


Conflict

Infrastructure Protection


UkraineAlert

Aug 7, 2023

Ukraine’s slow counteroffensive is a wake-up call for the West

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Maksym Skrypchenko</span>

Ukraine’s lack of counteroffensive progress over the past two months should serve as a wake-up call for Western leaders. Their response will shape the geopolitical landscape for decades to come, writes Maksym Skrypchenko.


Conflict

Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Aug 3, 2023

Agricultural obstacles may complicate Ukraine’s path toward EU membership

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Aleksander Cwalina, Benton Coblentz</span>

Ukraine continues to pursue EU integration even as the country defends itself against Russian invasion, but there are signs that some EU member states are not yet ready to integrate Ukraine's powerful agricultural sector.


Civil Society

Conflict


UkraineAlert

Aug 3, 2023

Russia is targeting Ukrainian national identity with attacks on heritage sites

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Mercedes Sapuppo</span>

The Russian bombing of Odesa's main Orthodox church in July was the latest in long line of attacks on Ukrainian heritage sites that indicate a deliberate campaign to erase Ukrainian cultural identity, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.


Civil Society

Conflict


UkraineAlert

Aug 3, 2023

Russian Orthodox leader Patriarch Kirill’s unholy war against Ukraine

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Borys Gudziak</span>

Russia's Unholy War: Russian Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Kirill has provided the ideological justification for Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and Russian efforts to eliminate Ukrainian national identity.


Civil Society

Conflict


UkraineAlert

Aug 1, 2023

Ukraine is finally freeing itself from centuries of Russian imperialism

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Taras Kuzio</span>

Vladimir Putin hoped his full-scale invasion of Ukraine would mark the dawn of a new Russian Empire. Instead, it has strengthened Ukraine's resolve to free itself from centuries of Russian imperialism, writes Taras Kuzio.


Civil Society

Conflict

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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

The Window for Reform May Be Closing in Ukraine, But It’s Still Wide Open in Kyiv

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

The Window for Reform May Be Closing in Ukraine, But It’s Still Wide Open in Kyiv

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

The Window for Reform May Be Closing in Ukraine, But It’s Still Wide Open in Kyiv

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

May 3, 2018

The Window for Reform May Be Closing in Ukraine, But It’s Still Wide Open in Kyiv

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Diane Francis</span>

Countries like Ukraine, afflicted with systemic corruption, need new leaders at the top, but also those willing to engage in erecting bulwarks against graft at the local level. And while the president and parliament disappoint and foot drag on implementing major revolutionary reforms, real change at the Kyiv City Council, the biggest local government in […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 3, 2018

Ukrainians Are Totally Sick of Their Leaders. Here’s One Radical Way to Fix the Problem

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Melinda Haring</span>

One could be forgiven for mistaking the campus of the Ukrainian Leadership Academy in Kyiv for a small liberal arts college in the United States. With its red-brick dormitory and modern glass facade, light-filled cafeteria that doubles as a disco, easy camaraderie, and never-ending intellectual discussions, it transported me back to my undergraduate days in […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 2, 2018

Russia Isn’t Just Interfering in Elections Around the World. It’s Doing Something Far Worse

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Maxim Eristavi</span>

Russian President Vladimir Putin will stop at nothing in his hunt for dissidents abroad. In his determination, he has found some powerful allies within Western democracies—a practice that should alarm those who prize justice and the rule of law. In recent weeks, I’ve been collecting stories of Russian dissidents who say they fell victim to […]

Moldova Russia

UkraineAlert

May 2, 2018

The Forgotten Faces of Those Left Behind in the Donbas

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Ruslan Minich</span>

“In the area of Avdiivka, you can hear 120 millimeter mortar shelling, while just 500 or 600 meters away, there is a bus stop with children waiting for a school bus,” remembers Vasyl Antoniak, a volunteer soldier who fought in the Donbas in 2014-15. For many Ukrainian soldiers, the line between war and normal life […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 1, 2018

Moscow’s Maritime Threats to Ukraine and the West

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Stephen Blank</span>

Russia’s recent naval activity around Ukraine and the Baltic Sea is more than simply a threat to countries in the region. In fact, it represents a challenge to the international order, one that could be replicated by other rogue nations. Since invading Ukraine in 2014, Moscow has become significantly bolder.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 1, 2018

Why the Seven Arguments Used to Justify Nord Stream II Are Just Plain Wrong

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Aliona Osmolovska</span>

Proponents of Russia’s Nord Stream II pipeline rely on at least seven arguments to explain their support for the politically motivated project. The trouble is, these justifications are based on incorrect assumptions or outright disinformation. We identified the seven myths and then used publicly available facts to set the record straight.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 30, 2018

Q&A: Ukraine’s Got Javelins Now. So What?

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Melinda Haring</span>

On April 30, the US Department of State confirmed to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty the delivery of Javelin antitank missile systems to Ukraine. This issue has been long-standing: the Obama administration refused to send the weapons to Kyiv, while President Donald Trump changed course. Some experts warn that giving Ukraine lethal defensive weapons will only […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 26, 2018

Leak May Put Brakes on Putin’s European Pipeline Dominance

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Oleksandr Kharchenko</span>

Gazprom has been making headlines in Europe lately. And not in a good way. The leaking of a 271-page report compiled by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition, which describes violations of European legislation by the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, recently became a sensation. It’s not, however, because the report reveals any previously unknown facts. […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 25, 2018

What Happened to the Ships the US Tried to Give to Ukraine?

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Valeriya Yegoshyna</span>

Editor’s note: On September 27, the United States officially transferred two former 110-foot Coast Guard cutters ships to Ukraine. However, the question remains: why did it take the Ukrainian government nearly four-and-a-half years to accept the US offer? We recommend the excellent RFE/RL “Schemes” investigation below.  Four years after Crimea’s annexation, Ukraine is still struggling to […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 24, 2018

What Europe’s Forgotten War Actually Feels Like

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Ruslan Minich</span>

“We were moving through flashing fields. And I realized history was evolving right in front of my very eyes. I had yellow goggles on; everything was yellow with them. I took the goggles off, and then the wind started blowing in my eyes. I couldn’t see anything,” says volunteer soldier Bizhan Sharopov, who fought against […]

Russia Ukraine
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