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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

Jan 23, 2025

European Parliament and United States condemn ‘sham’ Belarus vote

By
Mercedes Sapuppo

The European Parliament has condemned this weekend’s presidential election in Belarus as a “sham” designed to keep the country’s long-serving dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka in power, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

Belarus
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jan 21, 2025

Ukrainian parliament prepares to vote on Bulgarian nuclear reactor purchase

By
Stephen Blank

Ukraine is poised to purchase a pair of Soviet-era nuclear reactors from Bulgaria in a deal that highlights the country’s struggle for greater energy security amid Russia’s ongoing bombardment of civilian infrastructure, writes Stephen Blank.

Conflict
European Union


UkraineAlert

Jan 21, 2025

Donald Trump’s promise of strong US leadership should begin with Ukraine

By
Arseniy Yatsenyuk

By resolutely backing Ukraine, President Trump can prevent the slide toward World War III and reestablish US leadership in a world threatened by Putin’s Axis of Autocrats, writes former Ukrainian PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

Conflict
European Union


UkraineAlert

Jan 16, 2025

Ukraine’s escalating air attacks bring Putin’s invasion home to Russia

By
Maria Avdeeva

Ukraine has begun 2025 with a series of increasingly ambitious long-range air attacks against strategic military and industrial targets that are succeeding in bringing Putin’s invasion home to Russia, writes Maria Avdeeva.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Jan 15, 2025

Europe has a window of opportunity to shape Ukraine peace efforts

By
Doug Klain

With the incoming Trump administration still formulating its approach to ending the Russian invasion of Ukraine, European leaders now have an historic window of opportunity to shape the future of European security, writes Doug Klain.

Conflict
Economic Sanctions


UkraineAlert

Jan 15, 2025

Appeasement will only fuel Vladimir Putin’s imperial ambitions in Ukraine

By
Anastasiia Marushevska

Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is an old-fashioned colonial war rooted in centuries of Russian imperial history that cannot be ended by limited territorial concessions or other attempts at appeasement, writes Anastasiia Marushevska.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jan 14, 2025

No peace without security: Ukraine needs guarantees against new Russian invasion

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine is ready to make territorial concessions but insists that any peace deal must include credible long-term security guarantees to prevent a new Russian invasion, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
European Union


UkraineAlert

Jan 9, 2025

Abandoning Ukraine would plunge the entire world into an era of instability

By
Victor Liakh

If Western leaders choose to sacrifice Ukraine in a misguided bid to placate Putin, the shift from a rules-based international order to the law of the geopolitical jungle will be complete, writes Victor Liakh.

Conflict
Freedom and Prosperity


UkraineAlert

Jan 9, 2025

Ukraine hopes robot army can counter Russia’s battlefield advantages

By
David Kirichenko

As Ukrainian commanders prepare for a fourth year of Europe’s largest war since World War II, they are hoping their country’s growing arsenal of robotic systems can help counter Russia’s often overwhelming advantages in both manpower and firepower, writes David Kirichenko.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Jan 7, 2025

Putin begins 2025 confident of victory as war of attrition takes toll on Ukraine

By
Mykola Bielieskov

Donald Trump has vowed to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but Vladimir Putin begins 2025 more confident of victory than ever and with little interest in a negotiated peace deal, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

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.

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

Dec 21, 2017

It’s the Holiday Season Again. Will Ukraine Be Ready for the Next Cyberattack?

By Vera Zimmerman

Experts anticipate a new cyberattack on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure this month; they have observed increased activity from the same hackers involved in a previous cyberattack. In the last two years, cyberattacks on Ukraine’s power grid coincided with the winter holidays, a sensitive time with a high demand for critical infrastructure. A cyberattack may target civilians […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 21, 2017

People Are Wrong about the War in the Donbas, Says US Envoy

By Melinda Haring

2017 has been the most violent year of the conflict in eastern Ukraine since it began, according to Kurt Volker, US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations. “A lot of people think that this has somehow turned into a sleepy, frozen conflict and it’s stable and now we have…a ceasefire,” Volker said on December 19 during […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 21, 2017

Why Yegor Soboliev is Still Optimistic and Even Joyful about Ukraine’s Future

By Diane Francis

The claw back of reforms in Ukraine is alarming, and the latest blow was the dismissal on December 7 of hardworking Yegor Soboliev as chairman of parliament’s anti-corruption committee. A former investigative journalist and Maidan activist turned politician, he has been at the forefront of reforms such as electronic asset declarations for state officials, the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 20, 2017

Backsliding on Democracy Imperils Security in Ukraine and Poland

By Stephen Blank

Poland and Ukraine are frontline states for European security. That fact alone makes their mutual backsliding away from democratic reform—the indispensable precondition for their revival and security—so dangerous. The Polish government seems to want to return to its interwar model; at that time, it repressed its minorities and ultimately failed, ending up bereft of friends […]

Poland Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 19, 2017

Ukraine’s Oligarchs Still Control the Media. Will Anyone Ever Challenge Them?

By Vitalii Rybak

The oligarchs still control the airwaves in Ukraine. Ten of eleven national television channels are directly or indirectly connected to politicians and oligarchs. More than 75 percent of Ukrainians regularly watch TV channels owned by Ukrainian oligarchs Viktor Pinchuk, Ihor Kolomoisky, Dmytro Firtash, and Rinat Akhmetov. In radio, the situation is even worse: the top […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 18, 2017

What Ukraine Urgently Needs Isn’t What You Think

By Adrian Karatnycky

In a recent article the talented journalist Vitaliy Sych, editor of Ukraine’s reformist weekly Novoe Vremya, posits the emergence of a war between old Ukraine and new Ukraine. He is right. Recent months have seen the escalation of a fight that pits anticorruption institutions and activists against segments of the state and ruling elite. But […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 18, 2017

Maybe We Were Wrong about Gas Reform

By Melinda Haring

It’s no secret that the Atlantic Council has been bullish on Ukraine’s reforms. In particular, we often cite gas reform as the one that massively curbed corruption in Ukraine since the Euromaidan. But after an hour-long conversation with Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev on December 8, I came away with a different picture. Since the thirty-nine-year-old […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 14, 2017

One Way Kyiv Can Recover from Its Very Bad Week

By Melinda Haring

Ukraine got a serious black eye last week when its parliament dismissed the outspoken chairman of its Anticorruption Committee and nearly fired the head of its independent anticorruption bureau. But there’s a clear way it can recover. After anticorruption reform, fixing Ukraine’s dismal health care system is a second priority for the Ukrainian public. Pushing […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 12, 2017

Making Sense of Ukraine’s Ugly Fall

By Violeta Moskalu

This fall has been an ugly one for Ukraine. Throughout September, October, November, and December, Ukrainian authorities have illegally detained, persecuted, and expelled several foreign journalists and other foreign residents, causing observers to question whether Ukrainian leaders are actively violating human rights and willfully persecuting their political opponents in an effort to maintain their grip […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 12, 2017

What Ukrainians Really Think: 10 Key Insights from Ukraine’s 2017 Opinion Polls

By Anna Kyslytska

Ukraine is a complicated, changing country. It’s far too easy to imagine that the proclamations and positions presented by Ukraine’s government and civil society represent those of the general public. In fact, a close examination of a range of recent national opinion polls—on topics like corruption, the health care system, migration, and Russia—show that the […]

Russia Ukraine