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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


Fast Thinking

Jun 24, 2023

Prigozhin walks away. Where does his halted mutiny leave Putin?

By
Atlantic Council

Atlantic Council experts share their insights on what happened with the Wagner Group founder’s halted mutiny and what it says about the stability of Putin’s regime and the war in Ukraine.

Conflict
Europe & Eurasia


UkraineAlert

Jun 22, 2023

Ukraine’s counteroffensive is a marathon not a blitzkrieg

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive has barely begun and already some are dismissing it as a failure due to lack of immediate progress. In reality, the unfolding campaign is a marathon and not a blitzkrieg, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Jun 21, 2023

The new Ukraine will be a country worthy of its heroes

By
Yulia Svyrydenko

International attention is currently focused on the progress of the Ukrainian counteroffensive but it is also vital to make sure Ukraine wins the peace by creating a secure and prosperous country, writes Yulia Svyrydenko.

Conflict
Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Jun 21, 2023

Putin’s nuclear threats will escalate as Ukraine’s counteroffensive unfolds

By
Diane Francis

As Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive gets underway, there are fears that Russia’s deteriorating military predicament could lead to an escalation in Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats, writes Diane Francis.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jun 20, 2023

Western companies are still financing the Russian invasion of Ukraine

By
Nataliya Popovych

Despite tremendous business interest in Ukraine’s reconstruction and development, a large number of Western companies continue to undermine Kyiv’s efforts by contributing to the Kremlin’s war chest.

Conflict
Corruption


UkraineAlert

Jun 19, 2023

Beyond the battlefield: Why we should invest in Ukraine’s democratic future

By
Peter Erben, Gio Kobakhidze

Western military aid has helped Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s full-scale invasion, but the West must also support Ukraine’s efforts to consolidate the country’s democracy, argue Peter Erben and Gio Kobakhidze.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jun 14, 2023

Why Ukrainian NATO membership would actually be good for Russia

By
Leonid Gozman

Vladimir Putin claims one of the main goals of his Ukraine invasion is to prevent the country joining NATO, but in reality this objective actually goes directly against Russia’s own national interests, writes Leonid Gozman.

Conflict
Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Jun 12, 2023

Beyond the counteroffensive: 84% of Ukrainians are ready for a long war

By
Peter Dickinson

84% of Ukrainians reject any compromise with Russia and are ready for a long war if necessary in order to fully de-occupy their country. Most simply see no middle ground between genocide and national survival, writes Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jun 11, 2023

Russia’s failing Ukraine invasion is exposing Putin’s many weaknesses

By
Anders Åslund

Vladimir Putin’s disastrous invasion of Ukraine is exposing all of his personal weaknesses as a ruler and casting an unforgiving light on the extensive damage he has done to Russia, writes Anders Åslund.

Conflict
Corruption


UkraineAlert

Jun 11, 2023

Ukraine’s counteroffensive will likely create new reintegration challenges

By
Lesia Dubenko

If Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive is successful, Kyiv will be faced with the significant challenge of reintegrating communities that have lived under Russian occupation for extended periods, writes Lesia Dubenko.

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.

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 5, 2017

Positive Change Is Not Happening in Ukraine’s Courts

By Josh Cohen

In his recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, “Positive Change Is Happening in Ukraine,” Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman’s glosses over the real driver of a business-friendly climate: the courts. He fails to mention the courts, judicial reform, or the process to rebuild the Supreme Court, a process which is being sabotaged. Ukraine’s judiciary is riven with […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 3, 2017

US Trade Actions Threaten Ukraine and Strengthen Russia

By Daniel Valk

As President Donald Trump prepares for his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week at the G-20 in Hamburg, Germany, the US Department of Commerce is making two important trade decisions that threaten the economic and geopolitical stability of Ukraine. In 2014, as Ukraine was reeling from the annexation of Crimea, and as […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 3, 2017

War in Ukraine Was Years in the Making

By Vera Zimmerman

Ukraine is the only country in the world that has ongoing experience with a hybrid war—a simultaneous and adaptive military strategy that blends conventional and non-conventional means. As a result, it offers valuable lessons that could help the West better understand emerging threats. In the last three years, Ukraine has found itself drawn into the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 30, 2017

Ukraine’s Trashy Politics

By Diane Francis

Lviv is Ukraine’s most beautiful city, an exquisite UNESCO World Heritage site that has survived attacks and changed hands for seven centuries. The city is a successful IT hub and its hotels, restaurants, and architecture attract 2.5 million visitors a year. Since 2006, its reform-minded mayor and city council have upgraded infrastructure and enticed industry […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 29, 2017

War in Ukraine 2.0

By Melinda Haring

Russia is targeting the most capable and dedicated parts of the Ukrainian military. On June 27, Colonel Maksim Shapoval, commander of an elite Ukrainian military intelligence unit, was killed when his car exploded during his morning commute in downtown Kyiv. A few hours later, a massive cyberattack took out computer systems across the city. The […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 28, 2017

Ukraine’s Least Sexy Reform Is Transforming Villages with New Roads, Police, and Even a Telescope

By Ruslan Minich

It used to be dark, and children had to jump from stone to stone to get to school. Now, the roads are smooth and brightly lit. Water flows from the mountains by gravity, and thus is free of charge and available to everyone. This is what the residents of southwestern Ukraine’s Poliana village say decentralization […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 26, 2017

What Happens if Russia Turns Up the Heat Again in Ukraine?

By Andreas Umland

Will the low-intensity war in the Donbas continue its current course in the coming years, or will Moscow turn up the heat there, as it occasionally does? It’s hard to say. “It all comes down to geopolitics and what Putin wants to do,” said Ihor Kozak, an independent Canadian defense and security expert who visited […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 26, 2017

How History Will Remember Vladimir Putin

By Stephen Blank

To paraphrase Pravda in 1929, Putin is the Stalin of today. Nobody since Stalin’s death has achieved such longevity or uncontested power over Russia as Putin has. Nevertheless, tomorrow he may be remembered as the Brezhnev of today, for he has presided over a galloping stagnation of the economy and public morality. At the same […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 26, 2017

In Ukraine, Health Security Is National Security

By Olena Kucheruk and Alex T. Johnson

Three years after its invasion of Ukraine, Russia continues to pummel the country with cyberattacks, ruthless propaganda, and Grad missiles. But Ukraine’s dysfunctional institutions, especially its health care system, undermine Ukraine’s national security as well. Policies to reduce the enormous stress on Ukraine’s military and government alone ignore the delivery of core services. Without those […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 23, 2017

Memo to President Trump: It’s Not “The Ukraine” Anymore

By Peter Dickinson

The first meeting between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and US President Donald Trump on June 20 was widely hailed as a small but significant victory for Ukraine, signaling continued American support at a time when many fear Ukraine’s struggle with Russia is in danger of becoming a forgotten war. The only fly in the ointment […]

Russia Ukraine