UkraineAlert

UkraineAlert

UkraineAlert is a comprehensive online publication that provides regular news and analysis on developments in Ukraine’s politics, economy, civil society, and culture. UkraineAlert sources analysis and commentary from a wide-array of thought-leaders, politicians, experts, and activists from Ukraine and the global community. UkraineAlert has become a major publication in Ukraine’s news landscape and has established itself not only through its quality of content but also significant partnerships with English, Ukrainian, and Russian-language media through the country.

Stay Updated

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

Why Is the International Media Still Repeating Kremlin Propaganda about Ukraine?

UkraineAlert
Sep 3, 2026

Putin cannot defeat NATO but he could divide and discredit the alliance

By
Peter Dickinson

If Russian President Vladimir Putin decides to attack NATO, his goal will be to divide and discredit the alliance rather than actually defeating it, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Policy

Why Is the International Media Still Repeating Kremlin Propaganda about Ukraine?

UkraineAlert
Aug 27, 2026

Ukrainians are not superheroes with endless powers of resilience

By
Lauren Van Metre, Elena Davlikanova

By celebrating Ukrainian resilience as an almost superhuman quality, the international community risks obscuring the much less glamorous reality that Ukrainians are actually ordinary people who have endured extraordinary violence for far too long, write Lauren Van Metre and Elena Davlikanova.

Civil Society
Conflict

Why Is the International Media Still Repeating Kremlin Propaganda about Ukraine?

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

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Oct 14, 2015

Hey Europe, Stop Putting Russia First

By
Michal Kořan

The West’s deteriorating relationship with Russia has opened a window of opportunity to offer Eastern European countries a genuine future within the European Union, unrestrained by Moscow. To seize this opportunity, the West should refrain from past policies that, in the end, always put Russia first.


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 12, 2015

Ukraine’s New Police Are an Expression of a “Civil” State

By
Erica Marat

Almost two years after the Euromaidan demonstrations began, most Ukrainians agree that the pace of reforms has been largely disappointing. While many former civil-society activists hold key positions in the government and parliament, corruption continues to plague the country and state institutions cannot provide basic services. Amid the skepticism, one area where there is agreement […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 12, 2015

Snapshots of Ukraine’s Five Hottest Elections

By
Brian Mefford

Ukrainians go to the polls on October 25 to elect mayors and city councils. These local elections matter more than one might expect. The likely passage of a constitutional amendment on decentralization by parliament later this year will give the newly elected mayors and councils more autonomy and authority than ever before.


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 12, 2015

A Bold and Optimistic Strategy for Europe

By
Stephen Blank

US President Barack Obama recently derided critics of his foreign policies as offering merely mumbo-jumbo. Yet everyone can plainly see the administration’s shocking degree of across-the-board strategic incomprehension and incompetence in Europe and the Middle East. In fact, European Union diplomats publicly admit that confidence in US policies is plummeting throughout Europe. Therefore, I offer […]


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2015

The Forgotten War: A View From Ukraine’s Frontlines

By
Ihor Kozak

For a brief moment, it felt like déjà vu. As an officer with the Canadian Armed Forces, I visited several hot spots, witnessing my share of misery and destruction. Now I am in the Donbas, the war-torn region of eastern Ukraine. Since its independence in 1991, Ukraine has struggled to shed its Soviet colonial past […]


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2015

Evolution, Not Revolution, Is the Way to Save Ukraine, Says Leading Anti-Corruption Crusader

By
Diane Francis

Russian President Vladimir Putin is pivoting and wants to withdraw from the Donbas but keep Crimea, according to Iegor Soboliev, the head of the Ukrainian parliament’s anti-corruption committee. “He wants to give it back to us right now. He doesn’t need the Donbas,” he said in an interview on October 5. “Unfortunately, he will try […]


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2015

The Donbas Black Hole

By
Irena Chalupa

What Russia hoped would be a small, victorious war has turned into the “geostrategic disaster of a new cold war,” writes Volodymyr Horbulin, a respected foreign policy analyst currently advising Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. In an article in Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, Horbulin argues that the main participants in the war have exhausted themselves. The Donbas has […]


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 6, 2015

Don’t Blame the Oligarchs: Why Have Ukraine’s Cultural Reforms Gone Nowhere?

By
Kateryna Smagliy

The demonizing of Ukrainian oligarchs as major impediments to democratization and reform has become a shared mantra of Western and domestic pundits alike. Whenever explaining the slow pace of Ukraine’s changes after the Euromaidan, analysts argue that oligarchs only gained influence and that by controlling whole chunks of the state apparatus, mass media, and economy, […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 5, 2015

Testing Putin’s Intentions

By
John E. Herbst

The October 2 Paris Summit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and Russian President Vladimir Putin produced no breakthrough for peace in Ukraine. But it provided additional proof that, for the moment, Putin wants to lower tensions in the region. The parties spoke about three issues: the withdrawal […]


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 5, 2015

How to Fight Corruption in Ukraine

By
Anders Åslund

We all agree: The greatest threat facing Ukraine, after its war with Russia, is corruption. But few agree how to do so, though it should not be that difficult. In 1998, Ukraine’s main gas importer, Ihor Bakai, stated that “all rich people in Ukraine made their money on Russian gas.” The technique was simple. A […]


Russia

Ukraine

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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

Why Is the International Media Still Repeating Kremlin Propaganda about Ukraine?

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

Why Is the International Media Still Repeating Kremlin Propaganda about Ukraine?

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

Why Is the International Media Still Repeating Kremlin Propaganda about Ukraine?

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

Jul 14, 2018

Why Is the International Media Still Repeating Kremlin Propaganda about Ukraine?

By Peter Dickinson

When two members of Croatia’s World Cup squad recorded a nine-second video dedicating their quarter final victory over Russia to Ukraine, they chose to accompany it with the patriotic slogan “Slava Ukraini” (“Glory to Ukraine”). As former Dynamo Kyiv players, they appear to have believed they were sending a somewhat cheeky but essentially harmless message […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 13, 2018

If Trump Gambles Away Crimea, What Does This Actually Mean?

By Mykola Vorobiov

On July 16, a historic summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will take place in Helsinki. Many have speculated as to what the Master of the Deal will offer the Russian strongman. No one knows. Kyiv is legitimately worried that Trump will give away Crimea, Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula, that Russia illegally annexed […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 13, 2018

Why the Donbas Is So Vulnerable to Russian Propaganda

By Vera Zimmerman

When thousands of Ukrainian citizens and most journalists fled to safety, Stanislav Aseev, an aspiring young journalist from the Donbas decided to stay put. Surrounded by frequent shelling, rupturing grenades, flying rockets, worn by the psychological stress of death, destruction, and high unemployment, and bombarded by propaganda that shattered friendships and families, he put his […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 13, 2018

Stop Freaking Out. Trump Has Less Power Than Everyone Thinks.

By Melinda Haring

If one took the punditry seriously, it would be easy to conclude that the Western liberal order is being unmade before our very eyes. Some worried that US President Donald Trump would destroy the North Atlantic Treaty Organization this week. He didn’t. Instead, he reaffirmed his commitment to it. Yes, he undermined the credibility of […]

NATO Russia

UkraineAlert

Jul 12, 2018

Why the Russian Fuss over “Fascist” Salute at World Cup Backfired

By Adrian Karatnycky

“Glory to Ukraine!” saluted Domagoj Vida in a video message last week to his Ukrainian fans following Croatia’s victory over host Russia in the quarter finals of the World Cup. Vida, a Croatian defender who had played for five years with Ukraine’s Dynamo Kyiv, was pumped up from a heady goal in a dramatic victory […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 11, 2018

Another Way to Kill Nord Stream 2

By Oleksandr Kharchenko

Europe faces a looming choice with serious geopolitical consequences. It can continue to receive its natural gas through Ukraine or bypass Ukraine altogether and receive its gas through Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Option one—preserving Ukraine’s gas transportation system—helps diversify fuel supplies and means that Europe’s gas supplies can be expanded if needed. Option two […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 11, 2018

What the West Conveniently Forgets When It Talks about Ukraine

By Taras Kuzio

Some in the West like to beat up on Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and portray him as the chief obstacle to reform. However, if Poroshenko is holding the country back, how did parliament, which is governed by Poroshenko’s party and Popular Front, manage to adopt so many reforms in four short years?

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 9, 2018

Russia Didn’t Just Annex Crimea. It Took People, Too.

By Taras Berezovets

On June 29, US President Donald Trump told reporters that recognizing Russia’s illegal land grab of Ukraine’s Crimea is on the table when he meets President Vladimir Putin in July. While the White House has since backed away and insisted that US policy hasn’t changed, the president and his staff may need a refresher. In […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 9, 2018

One Overlooked Issue That Ukraine’s Political Parties Should Seize Now

By Olena Prokopenko and Eugene Krapyvin

Police reform is still listed among Ukraine’s most successful reforms undertaken since the Revolution of Dignity, but it shouldn’t be. In 2014-2015, it served as a showcase demonstrating Ukraine’s progress. To be fair, some results had been attained by that point: the newly reshuffled patrol police force was more transparent, it demonstrated zero tolerance for […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 5, 2018

Poroshenko Should Get an Earful in Brussels, But Not for the Reasons You Expect

By Anna Kyslytska

On July 9, Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko and European Council President Donald Tusk plan to meet at the EU-Ukraine Summit in Brussels to discuss a range of issues. Anticorruption reform will rightfully be at the top of the list, but there’s another issue that the Europeans should raise forcefully. One that escapes the headlines.

European Union International Organizations
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