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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jan 28, 2022

Ukrainian neutrality would not appease Putin or prevent further Russian aggression

By
Stephen Blank

Anyone who believes Ukrainian neutrality would appease Vladimir Putin should bear in mind the fact that Ukraine was officially neutral when Russia first invaded the country back in 2014.


Conflict

NATO


UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2022

The US must show leadership in countering Putin’s imperial ambitions

By
Eugene Czolij

The United States needs to assume a strong leadership position in international efforts to counter Putin’s imperial ambitions. Putin has made clear what he wants. It is time for America to deliver an equally emphatic response.


Conflict

Cybersecurity


UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2022

Inside Putin’s Ukraine obsession

By
Taras Kuzio

When Russian President Vladimir Putin laments the fall of the USSR and speaks about the injustice of the post-Soviet settlement, he is really thinking of Russian imperialism and has Ukraine primarily in mind.


Conflict

Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jan 25, 2022

Survey: Western public backs stronger support for Ukraine against Russia

By
Carl Bildt, Aleksander Kwasniewski, Victor Pinchuk, Anders Fogh Rasmussen

A recent six-country opinion survey commissioned by the Yalta European Strategy and Victor Pinchuk Foundation has identified strong Western public backing for an assertive policy in support of Ukraine.


Conflict

Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Jan 25, 2022

Ukrainian diaspora says Canada must do more to back Ukraine against Putin

By
Diane Francis

Members of Canada’s large Ukrainian diaspora are growing increasingly frustrated with what they see as their government’s failure to stand with Ukraine as it faces the prospect of a full-scale Russian invasion.


Civil Society

Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jan 24, 2022

Putin’s threatened invasion is already hitting the Ukrainian economy hard

By
Anders Åslund

While the world waits to see if Vladimir Putin will proceed with his threatened invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s menacing military posture is already hitting the Ukrainian economy hard.


Conflict

Corruption


UkraineAlert

Jan 23, 2022

Disarming Putin’s history weapon

By
Bohdan Vitvitsky

Ever since 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin has weaponized history as part of his hybrid war against Ukraine and sought to whitewash what is a deeply troubling Russian record of atrocity and oppression.


Conflict

Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jan 23, 2022

Ukraine Crisis: Putin the gambler may have gone too far to back down

By
Timothy Ash

Russian President Vladimir Putin has gained the world's attention with his threat to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine but he may now feel he must act or risk a serious loss of credibility on the international stage.


Conflict

European Union


UkraineAlert

Jan 22, 2022

Stop asking what Putin wants and start asking what Ukrainians want

By
Mychailo Wynnyckyj

Fears of a major European war have sparked endless speculation over what Putin may want and how the West should react, but Ukraine itself has been largely reduced to the status of bystander in its own national drama.


Civil Society

Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jan 19, 2022

Don’t believe Putin’s propaganda. Sanctions are hurting Russia.

By
Harley Balzer

International sanctions imposed on Russia since 2014 in response to Moscow's attack on Ukraine continue to have a negative impact on the country's economy despite Kremlin efforts to claim otherwise.


Conflict

Defense Technologies

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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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

UkraineAlert

May 29, 2018

Time to Cut Out the Middlemen in Ukraine Gas Trade

By Diane Francis

Four years after Ukrainians protested in the streets against jaw-dropping corruption, the most odious scheme of all—the corrupt natural gas market—continues to siphon billions from Ukraine. These proceeds underwrite a sophisticated bribery scheme in Russia and Ukraine, and more recently help subsidize Russia’s war and occupation against Ukraine. The heist was devised years ago by […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 25, 2018

Russian Armed Forces Downed Civilian Airline Four Years Ago, Investigators Conclude

By Michael Bociurkiw

The noose is finally closing on the people and structures behind the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. Almost four years after the Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur-bound flight was shot down by a BUK missile over Ukraine, a clearer picture is emerging on the origin of the missile, its route to the firing zone in […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 24, 2018

Poroshenko’s Game to Avoid Anti-Corruption Court Continues

By Josh Cohen

Anyone who claims Ukraine’s reforms have failed ignores the type of cases the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has been able to pursue. NABU represents Ukraine’s first government agency truly devoted to ending the impunity of corrupt, high-level officials. NABU continues to investigate and arrest senior officials previously considered untouchable. NABU faces one huge […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 24, 2018

Q&A: Why Are Things Heating Up in Ukraine Again?

By Melinda Haring

Violence is on the rise in eastern Ukraine again. There have been a number of civilian casualties and a massive number of ceasefire violations. Some have said that last week was the worst of all the fighting in 2018. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s army took control over the Donbas operation in April and the talks between US […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 24, 2018

Remembering Roman Kupchinsky on Memorial Day

By Melinda Haring

Of all the stories that I’ve written about Ukraine, none has provoked and continues to provoke choruses of thank yous than this piece I wrote three years ago about the life and legacy of Roman Kupchinsky. Each time I go to Kyiv, I meet another young journalist who Roman quietly mentored. On Monday, as the […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 22, 2018

Five Steps Ukraine Should Take Now to Free Their Hostages in Russia

By Josh Cohen

Perhaps no one in Kyiv faces a more difficult task than First Vice-Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Iryna Herashchenko. Herashchenko is Ukraine’s lead negotiator tasked with freeing Ukrainians held captive in the Donbas. The Ukrainian government and Russia’s separatist proxies in eastern Ukraine exchanged nearly 400 prisoners in late 2017—a notable achievement for which Herashchenko […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 21, 2018

Former Defense Minister Hrytsenko Is Finally Having His Moment in the Sun

By Vitalii Rybak

Anatoliy Hrytsenko, Ukraine’s defense minister from 2005 to 2007, is finally having his moment in the sun. The latest poll shows that 12.7 percent of Ukrainians who have made up their minds would vote for Hrytsenko in the first round of the 2019 presidential election. This is progress compared to his previous results. The 2019 […]

Ukraine
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