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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

Apr 11, 2024

Ukraine pleads for Patriot air defense systems as Russia destroys power grid

By
Peter Dickinson

Officials in Kyiv are calling on partners to urgently supply Patriot systems as Russia capitalizes on Ukraine’s weakening air defenses to methodically destroy the country’s power grid, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Apr 11, 2024

Ukraine’s veterans can transform the country’s postwar political landscape

By
Kateryna Odarchenko

While the Russian invasion of Ukraine is still far from over, it already looks likely that Ukrainian military veterans will play a key role in their country’s postwar politics, writes Kateryna Odarchenko.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Apr 9, 2024

Russian Orthodox Church declares “Holy War” against Ukraine and West

By
Brian Mefford

The Russian Orthodox Church has approved a remarkable new document that declares a holy war against Ukraine and the wider Western world, writes Brian Mefford.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Apr 9, 2024

Georgia launches new push to adopt Russian-style foreign agent law

By
Mercedes Sapuppo

Georgia’s ruling party has revived plans to pass legislation tightening restrictions on civil society, despite the fact that the same draft law sparked mass protests just one year ago, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Apr 7, 2024

Western weakness in Ukraine could provoke a far bigger war with Russia

By
Oleksiy Goncharenko

Western leaders must decide whether they would rather arm Ukraine for victory today or fight a resurgent and emboldened Russia tomorrow, writes Oleksiy Goncharenko.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Apr 3, 2024

Ukraine’s Belarusian volunteers create headaches for Putin ally Lukashenka

By
Alesia Rudnik

Thousands of Belarusians are currently fighting for Ukraine and make no secret of their ambitions to eventually topple pro-Kremlin Belarus dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka, writes Alesia Rudnik.

Belarus
Civil Society


UkraineAlert

Apr 3, 2024

Ukraine’s allies divided over drone campaign targeting Russian refineries

By
Giorgi Revishvili

Ukraine’s expanding campaign of drone strikes on Russian refineries has inflicted significant damage on Putin’s oil and gas industry while also revealing divisions among Ukraine’s allies, writes Giorgi Revishvili.

Conflict
Drones


UkraineAlert

Apr 2, 2024

Putin is weaponizing corruption to weaken Europe from within

By
Francis Shin

Recent revelations regarding a Kremlin influence operation in the heart of the EU have highlighted Europe’s continued vulnerability to Russian weaponized corruption, writes Francis Shin.

Conflict
Corruption


UkraineAlert

Mar 31, 2024

Russia’s new air offensive leaves Ukraine facing humanitarian disaster

By
Aura Sabadus

Unless Ukraine’s Western partners urgently enhance the country’s air defenses, Russia’s new air offensive will leave millions of Ukrainians without access to electricity, water, and heating, writes Aura Sabadus.

Conflict
Geopolitics & Energy Security


UkraineAlert

Mar 31, 2024

Ukraine urgently needs air defenses as Russia decimates power grid

By
Suriya Evans-Pritchard Jayanti

A new Russian air offensive has destroyed much of Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure in a matter of days and threatens to spark a humanitarian catastrophe if Ukraine does not urgently receive enhanced air defenses, writes Suriya Evans-Pritchard Jayanti.

Conflict
Defense Technologies

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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

Apr 26, 2017

How Ukraine Can Win Back Crimea

By Valentyn Nalyvaichenko

The Crimean Tatars are finally receiving the attention they deserve, and that Ukraine must give, if it is to regain Crimea and again be a unified country. On April 19, 2017, the International Court of Justice at The Hague issued a provisional ruling calling for an end to racial discrimination against Crimean Tatars, as well […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 25, 2017

NATO’s Real Problem Isn’t Defense Spending

By Stephen Blank

When US President Donald Trump attends the NATO summit in Brussels on May 25, he should press the Alliance to confront Moscow’s conventional military superiority and nuclear blackmail tactics, rather than endlessly needle the Europeans about defense spending. NATO undoubtedly needs additional funding sources, but the unwillingness of European countries to meet their 2 percent […]

NATO Russia

UkraineAlert

Apr 25, 2017

What Do European Countries Think about Russia?

By Jakub Janda

On April 24, the European Values Think-Tank released a new major study examining how individual member states of the European Union perceive the threat coming from the Russian Federation. More than 450 policy documents, intelligence reports, and other sources were used to assess how Russia’s aggressive behavior impacts the foreign and security policies of the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 24, 2017

Russia Funds and Manages Conflict in Ukraine, Leaks Show

By Aric Toler and Melinda Haring

Hacked emails show that the Kremlin directs and funds the ostensibly independent republics in eastern Ukraine and runs military operations there. In late 2016, Ukrainian hacker groups released emails purportedly taken from the office of Kremlin official Vladislav Surkov, who oversees Ukraine policy for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Surkov leaks confirm what many have […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 24, 2017

Russia’s Desperation for More Soldiers Is Taking It to Dark Places

By Valentyn Badrak, Lada Roslycky, Mykhailo Samus, and Volodymyr Kopchak

Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine and intensive military operations in Syria have caused a very big problem: a shortage of qualified people to man its occupation forces. This personnel gap, caused by permanent, heavy losses suffered by Russia’s forces, has drastically changed the scale and character of its military missions. At the early stages of […]

Russia Syria

UkraineAlert

Apr 24, 2017

More Solidarity with Ukraine Needed, Say Speakers at the Kyiv Security Forum

By Ariel Cohen

The Tenth Kyiv Security Forum—an important foreign affairs conference conducted annually by the Open Ukraine Foundation—occurred on April 6-7. Headed by Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and his wife Terezia, the conference underscored an important message: the need for the West to stay engaged and maintain security in the borderlands between Russia and Central […]

Belarus Moldova

UkraineAlert

Apr 20, 2017

Who’s Been Monkeying with Ukraine’s Judicial Reforms Again?

By Mykhailo Zhernakov

Ukraine is building its new Supreme Court from scratch–a bold move as a part of its comprehensive judicial reform. Candidates who are running for the Supreme Court have undergone a series of tests, but still must pass a final interview. All along, this process offered great hope for dramatic change in Ukraine’s judiciary, but it […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 19, 2017

The Right Land Reform Could Transform Ukraine Now

By Aivaras Abromavičius and Alexey Mushak

Largely in response to the IMF’s condition for further aid, Ukraine is on the verge of launching land reform, possibly its most dramatic and important reform to date. The land reform concept that Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman has proposed, however, is unlikely to gain support from either the agricultural sector or from parliament. Due to […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 18, 2017

Why We Continue to Misunderstand Putin’s War in Ukraine

By Taras Kuzio

The Euromaidan and Russia’s annexation of Crimea have turned Ukraine into a popular media topic. But Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine has also led to a giant surge in academic and think tank publications about Ukraine, with more than three hundred published since 2014. These scholarly and expert analyses have taken five main […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 17, 2017

Meet Ulana Suprun: Ukraine’s Top Doctor Takes on Tax Chief and Corrupt System

By Diane Francis

In March, Ukraine’s reformers applauded when the National Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested Roman Nasirov, the country’s chief tax and customs official, on embezzlement charges. But he claimed he was having a heart attack, called an ambulance, and was diagnosed as too ill to be taken to court. Such tricks might have worked before, but this time […]

Ukraine