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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

Feb 27, 2024

No opposition candidates allowed in Belarus dictator’s “sham” elections

By
Hanna Liubakova

Sunday’s parliamentary and local elections in Belarus were among the most flawed in the thirty-year reign of the country’s authoritarian ruler, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, writes Hanna Liubakova.

Belarus
Civil Society


UkraineAlert

Feb 23, 2024

Making Russia pay for the invasion of Ukraine

By
Paul Grod

Using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s resistance and recovery is morally justified and would also ease the financial burden on Western economies, writes Paul Grod.

Conflict
Economic Sanctions


UkraineAlert

Feb 22, 2024

Ukrainian long-range drones target Putin’s war machine inside Russia

By
Victoria Vdovychenko, Alexander Khara

Ukraine is hoping a new campaign of long-range drone strikes against Russia’s strategically vital oil and gas industry can help weaken Putin’s war machine, write Victoria Vdovychenko and Alexander Khara.

Conflict
Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Feb 22, 2024

Putin’s unpunished Crimean crime set the stage for Russia’s 2022 invasion

By
Mercedes Sapuppo

The West’s inadequate response to Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea was a major blunder that emboldened Putin and set the stage for the biggest European invasion since World War II, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Feb 20, 2024

Outgunned Ukraine bets on drones as Russian invasion enters third year

By
Mykola Bielieskov

As Putin’s invasion passes the two-year mark, tech-savvy Ukraine is betting on drones as the best way to overcome Russia’s increasingly overwhelming advantage in traditional firepower, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Feb 20, 2024

Time is running out to help Ukraine and defend the West

By
Victor Pinchuk

The West is potentially overwhelmingly stronger than Russia and can enable Ukraine to win. But this will require far more effort and speed, writes Victor Pinchuk.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Feb 15, 2024

Ukraine’s Black Sea success offers hope as Russian invasion enters third year

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s remarkable success in the Battle of the Black Sea exposes the emptiness of Russia’s red lines and provides a road map for victory over Putin, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Feb 12, 2024

Putin’s history lecture reveals his dreams of a new Russian Empire

By
Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin turned his hotly anticipated interview with Tucker Carlson into a history lecture that laid bare the dangerous delusions and imperial ambitions driving the invasion of Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Feb 8, 2024

Removal of Ukraine’s ‘Iron General’ is one of Zelenskyy’s biggest gambles

By
Peter Dickinson

President Zelenskyy’s decision to remove Ukraine’s top general comes as no surprise but is nevertheless one of his biggest gambles of the entire war, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Feb 8, 2024

President Zelenskyy’s dual citizenship proposal presents wartime dilemmas

By
Mark Temnycky

President Zelenskyy’s recent proposal to allow dual citizenship is a potentially popular but impractical measure in the current wartime conditions, writes Mark Temnycky.

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

Oct 4, 2017

US Wrongly Thought Nukes Were Ukraine’s Biggest Problem

By Anders Åslund

Ukraine has played an important role in US foreign policy since it became independent in 1991. So far, this topic has received scant scholarly interest. The most substantial book to date was Sherman Garnett, The Keystone in the Arch: Ukraine in the Emerging Security Environment of Central and Eastern Europe, which was published in 1997, […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 4, 2017

History as a Weapon in Russia’s War on Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

The international media will embrace all things Bolshevik this autumn as the world marks the centenary of the Russian Revolution. Audiences can expect everything from gushing feature articles about early Soviet cinematography to edgy op-eds on the place of propaganda posters in twentieth century art. Amid this deluge of Communist kitsch, we are unlikely to […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 2, 2017

Merkel’s Next Challenge: Defeating Putin in Central Eastern Europe

By Péter Krekó

Now that the German elections are over and the victorious Chancellor Angela Merkel is preparing for coalition talks with potential partners, two important questions arise: how will the political changes in Germany affect German-Russian relations, which have become embittered in the last few years? And what impact could the election have on Germany’s influence in […]

Germany Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 29, 2017

Ukraine’s Got a Real Chance to Change. Will It Blow It Again?

By Diane Francis

Ukraine’s future rests on whether its judicial reforms will bring about the rule of law for the first time in its history, or whether political influence continues to contaminate its system. It appears the latter is the case. Today, 111 new Supreme Court nominees were proposed to President Petro Poroshenko for his signature to begin […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 28, 2017

Trump and Poroshenko: The Billionaire Boys Club

By Adrian Karatnycky

Petro Poroshenko scored a prized diplomatic plum for which most heads of state and government aggressively vie: a one-on-one meeting with President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. In addition to Ukraine’s president, Trump held only nine other private meetings with the heads of state or government […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 28, 2017

How to Keep the Russian Bear Out of Ukraine’s Energy Sector

By Olga Bielkova and Anders Åslund

Russia is at war with Ukraine. This is a hybrid war with many arms. One of them is energy. The Kremlin has weaponized the energy trade between Russia and Ukraine to impose a client-state status on Ukraine. Given its weak negotiating position, Ukraine had to accept Gazprom’s unjustified prices. Facing the threat of supply interruptions, […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 28, 2017

Patriot: Working Hard to Bring Home Ukrainian POWs

By Vera Zimmerman

The situation with prisoners of war being held in Ukraine’s occupied Donbas is a tragedy. Some have been locked up for over two years, some tortured, and a few executed. Access to them by international missions is usually denied. Despairing families sometimes fall prey to swindlers seeking ransom. Since the war is officially undeclared, these […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 26, 2017

Who Says that Russians Have to Live Under a Corrupt, Aging, and Irrational Strongman?

By Anastazia Clouting

On September 13, a man who cheated death twice came to Washington. Vladimir Kara-Murza, a journalist and deputy head of the nongovernmental organization Open Russia, survived a second state-sanctioned poisoning in February. He has lived to deliver a message for democratic allies in the West. In a speech at the US Capitol, Kara-Murza said, “It […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 26, 2017

Four Real Ways to Fix Ukraine Now

By Josh Cohen

Kyiv continues to make great progress stabilizing its economy as Ukraine’s recent sale of a $3 billion Eurobond demonstrates. When it comes to anticorruption reforms, though, it continues to be a case of two steps forward and one step back. To break this stalemate, Ukraine’s Western friends should push Kyiv to take the following four […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 22, 2017

Ukraine’s Diplomatic War for Peace

By Nataliya Katser-Buchkovska

These early autumn days are still hot—particularly for the upper crust of the diplomatic world attending the United Nations General Assembly’s 72nd session. Much remains at stake. In particular, Ukraine will once again be requesting UN peacekeeping missions and other assistance from the United Nations to help bring the conflict in the east to a […]

Russia Ukraine