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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

Aug 25, 2026

Russia’s war will not end until Putin accepts Ukrainian independence

By
Peter Dickinson

Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin is pursuing longstanding Russian imperial objectives in Ukraine and will not stop until he is forced to accept the irreversible reality of an independent Ukrainian state, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict


European Union


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


UkraineAlert

Aug 20, 2026

As pressure mounts on Putin, Russia is escalating against Ukraine’s allies

By
Peter Dickinson

With the Russian army struggling to advance in Ukraine and Ukrainian strikes increasing inside Russia, Putin is escalating his gray zone campaign against Kyiv's European allies in a bid to deprive Ukraine of vital support and rescue his faltering invasion, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict


Drones


UkraineAlert

Aug 20, 2026

Zelenskyy’s recent Serbia visit was a win for Ukraine and the West

By
Stephen Blank

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's recent visit to Serbia highlighted growing ties between Kyiv and Belgrade while also underlining wartime Ukraine's emergence as an important geopolitical player, writes Stephen Blank.


Conflict


Elections


UkraineAlert

Aug 18, 2026

Odesa under attack: Russia is cutting Ukraine off from the Black Sea

By
Michael Bociurkiw

Russia's current bombing strategy is not simply to punish Odesa. Moscow aims to make Ukraine's largest Black Sea port city functionally landlocked, writes Michael Bociurkiw.


Conflict


Drones


UkraineAlert

Aug 18, 2026

Echoes of Odysseus in Ukraine’s ingenious approach to the art of war

By
Brian Mefford

Christopher Nolan's new blockbuster film version of the Odyssey is shaped by timeless values of military ingenuity, righteous justice, and a longing for one’s homeland that offer ancient echoes of modern-day Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion, writes Brian Mefford.


Conflict


Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Aug 14, 2026

Russian atrocities in Ukraine are escalating and demand urgent action

By
Kristina Hook

When leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin embrace an ideology of national group destruction, history offers little reason to believe they can be persuaded to abandon that objective, writes Kristina Hook.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Aug 13, 2026

Russia’s escalating bombardment of Ukraine is not ‘retaliation’

By
Zahar Hryniv

Russia is attempting to portray the bombardment of Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure as "retaliation" for Ukraine's own efforts to defend itself against Putin's invasion. This "retaliation" narrative is dangerously misleading, writes Zahar Hryniv.


Conflict


Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Aug 11, 2026

Western weakness is encouraging Putin to test NATO

By
Peter Dickinson

As Moscow's hybrid war against NATO continues to escalate, the alliance's reluctance to impose any additional costs on the Kremlin will only only embolden Putin and fuel Russian perceptions of Western weakness, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict


Drones


UkraineAlert

Aug 6, 2026

Ukraine cannot defeat Putin’s ballistic blitz by defensive measures alone

By
Mykola Bielieskov

Putin is ramping up Russian ballistic missile production and clearly intends to bomb Ukraine into submission. If he is not stopped, the Ukrainian civilian population will pay a terrible price and Kyiv may be pushed toward capitulation, writes Mykola Bielieskov.


Defense Technologies


European Union

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

Jun 12, 2018

Ukraine Takes One Step Forward and Two Steps Back

By Melinda Haring

It’s only been six weeks since I was last in Kyiv, and yet the mood now feels completely different. When I was last in Kyiv, posters advertising rock star Slava Vakarchuk’s Independence Day concert were everywhere and he was the talk of the town. No longer. Now former prime minister and campaigner extraordinaire Yulia Tymoshenko’s […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 11, 2018

How to Keep the Kremlin and the Oligarchs Out of the Ukrainian White House

By Anders Åslund

The other night in Kyiv, one of Ukraine’s best political analysts came to see me. He asked me what the United States wants in the next Ukrainian presidential election slated for March 2019. I told him that the United States doesn’t have a favorite. Nor will it. My interlocutor was highly dissatisfied with the answer. […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 7, 2018

Ukraine’s Veterans Are a Powerful Constituency. Who Will Control Them?

By Lauren Van Metre

On February 27, Ukraine’s parliament voted to establish a new Ministry for Veterans, pending the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers. The parliament has been active on veterans’ issues, adopting more than thirty laws in the last three years to provide social services and protections. But more than twenty ministries and government departments handle veterans’ […]

NATO Security & Defense

UkraineAlert

Jun 6, 2018

Ukraine’s Devastating Problem Is Only Getting Worse

By Diane Francis

Political disaffection is not unique to Ukraine, but the lack of optimism and new access to European jobs foretells more migration.

Macroeconomics Migration

UkraineAlert

Jun 4, 2018

Actually, the West’s Anticorruption Policy Is Spot On

By Daria Kaleniuk

In a recent Foreign Affairs column, Adrian Karatnycky and Alexander J. Motyl argue that the West’s anticorruption policies are failing in Ukraine. This is false. The West’s anticorruption policies are spot on, and the West needs to dig in and push even harder. Karatnycky and Motyl are right that Ukraine has changed for the better […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 31, 2018

Putin’s Bridge to Nowhere

By Askold Krushelnycky

Russia’s war in Ukraine has entered its fifth year. Skirmishes and killings continue every week but have faded from the headlines—perhaps because they have reached “an acceptable level of violence.” I was a teenager when I first heard that chilling term uttered by a British politician in 1971 referring to the low intensity war in […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 31, 2018

How Ukraine Can Seize the Moral High Ground in the Donbas

By Lauren Van Metre

Fighting in eastern Ukraine last week was the worst it’s been this year. The uptick in violence coincides with Ukraine’s transition of the command of the war from its security forces to its armed forces, which is part of the implementation of Ukraine’s new law on reintegration. While much of the new law has not […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 30, 2018

Q&A: “Dead” Russian Journalist Arkady Babchenko Is Alive and Well. Does Faking His Murder Help or Hinder Ukraine’s Credibility?

By Melinda Haring

On May 29, the media reported that Russian journalist and Putin critic Arkady Babchenko had been assassinated in Kyiv. He reportedly died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. On May 30, Babchenko appeared at a press conference, alongside the head of the Ukrainan Security Service (SBU) Vasily Gritsak and Prosecutor General Yuriy […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 29, 2018

Richard Pipes: An Appreciation

By Stephen Blank

I was not a student of the late Richard Pipes, and I only met him once briefly, so I cannot claim any special relationship or unique insight into his personality and character. Nevertheless, he was and remains a model for historians of Russia and those who aspire to understand Russia as it really is.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 29, 2018

Why I’m Still Doing Business in Ukraine

By Paul Niland

Ukraine is a challenging and confusing place to do business. At the same time, it’s also exciting and changing. I’ve been doing business in Ukraine for fifteen years, and while Ukraine has a bad reputation for international business, it deserves a second look.

Ukraine