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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

Jul 25, 2024

Putin is convinced he can outlast the West and win in Ukraine

By
Mykola Bielieskov

The West’s collective fear of escalation and reluctance to commit to Ukrainian victory have convinced Putin that he can outlast his opponents and achieve an historic triumph in Ukraine, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Jul 23, 2024

Putin accused of jailing US journalists as ‘bargaining chips’ for prisoner swap

By
Mercedes Sapuppo

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has been accused of using American journalists as bargaining chips after jailing US reporters Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva on dubious charges ahead of a possible prisoner swap, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

Conflict
Freedom and Prosperity


UkraineAlert

Jul 22, 2024

Andriy Yermak: Ukraine and NATO are restoring Europe’s security architecture

By
Andriy Yermak

Together with the country’s allies, Ukraine has set out on the path to restore the European security architecture, writes the head of Ukraine’s Office of the President Andriy Yermak.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Jul 18, 2024

Hungarian PM Orban poses as unlikely peacemaker for Russia’s Ukraine war

By
Dmytro Tuzhanskyi

Hungarian PM Viktor Orban recently embarked on a global “peace mission” to end the war in Ukraine but he may actually be more interested in strengthening his own position, writes Dmytro Tuzhanskyi.

China
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 18, 2024

Ukraine’s drone success offers a blueprint for cybersecurity strategy

By
Anatoly Motkin

Ukraine’s rapidly expanding domestic drone industry offers a potentially appealing blueprint for the development of the country’s cybersecurity capabilities, writes Anatoly Motkin.

Conflict
Cybersecurity


UkraineAlert

Jul 16, 2024

Russia’s retreat from Crimea makes a mockery of the West’s escalation fears

By
Peter Dickinson

The Russian Navy’s quiet retreat from Crimea highlights the emptiness of Putin’s red lines and the self-defeating folly of Western escalation management, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Jul 16, 2024

I was sentenced to ten years in absentia for highlighting Belarus’s descent into dictatorship

By
Alesia Rudnik

My recent ten-year sentence in absentia is a sure sign that Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka is increasingly insecure and dependent on the Kremlin, writes Alesia Rudnik.

Belarus
Civil Society


UkraineAlert

Jul 11, 2024

Hospital bombing was latest act in Russia’s war on Ukrainian healthcare

By
Olha Fokaf

The bombing of Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital on July 8 was the latest in a series of similar attacks as Russia deliberately targets Ukrainian healthcare infrastructure, writes Olha Fokaf.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jul 11, 2024

Five reasons why Ukraine should be invited to join NATO

By
Paul Grod

The 2024 NATO Summit in Washington failed to produce any progress toward Ukrainian membership but there are five compelling reasons why Ukraine should be invited to join the alliance, writes Paul Grod.

Conflict
European Union


UkraineAlert

Jul 11, 2024

Ukraine’s prayer breakfast challenges Kremlin claims of religious persecution

By
Steven Moore

Ukraine’s recent National Prayer Breakfast highlighted the country’s commitment to religious freedom and challenged Kremlin accusations of religious persecution in the country, writes Steven Moore.

Civil Society
Conflict

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

Sep 7, 2017

Will Ukraine’s Parliament Accomplish Anything This Fall?

By Olena Prokopenko and Christina Parandii

On September 5, a new political season began in Ukraine. Parliamentary speaker Andriy Parubiy has already branded parliament’s new plenary session “the autumn of reforms” by promising to deliver results on some of the most hot-button issues, including healthcare, pension, education, and judicial reforms. Parliament is behind and needs to kick things into high gear; […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 5, 2017

Should the US Arm Ukraine? For the Answer, Look to the Soviet-Afghan War

By Johnny Herbst

In February 2014, Russia seized and annexed Crimea; a few weeks later, Moscow launched its no-longer-covert hybrid war against Ukraine in the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts. It is now 2017 and the situation remains relatively unchanged. The conflict in the east is at a standstill, no side has a clear advantage, and it appears that […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 5, 2017

Parliament Is the Problem in Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

September marks the beginning of season 48 of “Game of Chairs,” otherwise known as the Ukrainian parliament. As the country’s MPs return for the autumn parliamentary session, few will be tuning in. While the palace intrigues and Machiavellian plot twists of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” makes for compulsive viewing, the ideological ambiguity and backroom dealing […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 4, 2017

How to Finish the Revolution in Ukraine

By Olena Sotnyk

More than three years after the Euromaidan, Ukraine still hasn’t successfully prosecuted any high-level crooks, and we’ve got plenty here. At Stanford University’s Draper Hills Summer Fellowship this summer, we examined how to catch a “big fish” and looked at a case study in Indonesia, where the country’s anticorruption commission had just begun. Despite being […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 30, 2017

Ukraine Needs Arms, Not Cheap Arguments

By John E. Herbst

The United States is seriously considering giving Ukraine lethal defensive weapons, and this is the right move. Over the last month, Michael Brendan Dougherty and I have debated this issue here and here. In his latest response, Dougherty tries to rack up a quick win. He claims that experts issued a report arguing for arming Ukraine […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 30, 2017

Things Are Looking Up in Ukraine

By Katie LaRoque

For the first time since Ukraine’s 2014 Revolution of Dignity, the International Republican Institute’s (IRI) polls show a slight improvement in the country. It’s finally possible to be cautiously optimistic about Ukraine. Here are the four key takeaways from IRI’s latest national public opinion survey.

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 30, 2017

How Ukraine Can Win the Revolution Again

By Kateryna Smagliy

Ukraine now boasts a new layer of democratic paint, but the old oligarchic colors are peeking through. Three years after Petro Poroshenko assumed the presidency, numerous experts warn that a counter-revolution is on the horizon and that Ukraine may slide back to authoritarianism. Ukraine is at serious risk of failing again. Civic activists failed to […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 29, 2017

How Trump Can Get Putin’s Attention

By Stephen Blank

Two days after Russia told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson it was willing to talk about Ukraine, Moscow unilaterally and illegally closed the Kerch Strait, ostensibly for technical reasons. So much for a willingness to talk. Russia is not only threatening Ukraine again, it also is displaying contempt for President Donald Trump personally. Moscow’s […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 15, 2017

The Challenge Ahead in Eastern Ukraine

By Askold Krushelnycky

Bloody fighting between government troops and pro-Kremlin separatists and Russian regulars has continued for three years in Ukraine’s east. Meanwhile, an equally fierce battle is being waged for the hearts and minds of civilians on the Ukrainian side, many of whose loyalties hover between Kyiv and Moscow.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 15, 2017

How to Fix Ukraine’s Economy

By Mark Gitenstein and Jacques Tohme

It’s been more than three years since Ukrainians were driven in large measure by the rampant corruption in Ukraine to retake their country. Yet state-owned enterprises (SOEs)—the organs of systemic corruption and deterrence for western investment—remain in the hands of the same elites who drain these state treasures of their financial and material resources. Even […]

Central Europe Ukraine