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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

Sep 12, 2023

Russia seeks to legitimize occupation of Ukraine with sham elections

By <span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Mercedes Sapuppo, Olivia Yanchik</span>

In early September, Russia staged sham parliamentary elections in occupied regions of southern and eastern Ukraine as Moscow attempted to legitimize its earlier illegal annexation of five Ukrainian provinces.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Sep 12, 2023

US expected to decide soon on long-range missiles for Ukraine

By <span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Benton Coblentz</span>

ATACMS missiles would greatly increase Ukraine’s ability to strike the logistical networks supporting Russia's invasion and would make it increasingly difficult for Putin’s army to operate inside Ukraine, writes Benton Coblentz.

Conflict Maritime Security

UkraineAlert

Sep 7, 2023

Ukraine’s partners cannot remove Putin but they can stop legitimizing him

By <span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Richard Cashman</span>

As long as Vladimir Putin is in power, Russia will remain a rogue state. Western policies that legitimize him through fear of a potential post-Putin Russia are perverse, writes Richard Cashman.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Sep 6, 2023

Belarus dictator weaponizes passports in new attack on exiled opposition

By <span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Hanna Liubakova</span>

Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka has banned the country's embassies from issuing or renewing passports in a move that critics see as his latest escalation against Belarus's exiled pro-democracy opposition, writes Hanna Liubakova.

Belarus Civil Society

UkraineAlert

Sep 5, 2023

Removal of defense minister shows wartime Ukraine is changing

By <span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Melinda Haring</span>

The removal of Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov in early September came following a series of minor but damaging corruption scandals and signaled a zero tolerance approach to graft in wartime Ukraine, writes Melinda Haring.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Sep 4, 2023

Jewish president picks Muslim defense minister: Ukraine’s diverse leadership debunks Russia’s “Nazi” slurs

By <span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Peter Dickinson</span>

Ukraine now has a Jewish president and a Muslim minister of defense, underlining the diversity of the country's leadership while exposing the absurdity of Russia's “Nazi Ukraine” propaganda, writes Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 31, 2023

Russia is losing in Ukraine but winning in Georgia

By <span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Giorgi Kandelaki</span>

If Putin is able to reassert Russian dominance over Georgia while continuing to occupy 20% of the country, he will be encouraged to believe that a similar outcome will eventually prove possible in Ukraine, writes Giorgi Kandelaki.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 31, 2023

Putin’s Russia must not be allowed to normalize nuclear blackmail

By <span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Olivia Yanchik</span>

Vladimir Putin has used nuclear threats to intimidate the West and reduce the flow of military aid to Ukraine. If this trend does not change, Russia will succeed in normalizing nuclear blackmail as a foreign policy tool, writes Olivia Yanchik.

Arms Control Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 29, 2023

Ukraine’s remarkable resilience may prove decisive in long war with Russia

By <span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Peter Dickinson</span>

With hopes of a decisive Russian military victory fading fast, Vladimir Putin is pinning his hopes on outlasting the West and breaking Ukraine's will to resist. However, he may have fatally underestimated Ukrainian resilience, writes Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 27, 2023

Ukraine upgrades digital education efforts

By <span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Valeriya Ionan</span>

The full-scale Russian invasion has thrust Ukraine’s vibrant tech sector into the limelight and led to an upgrade of the country's flagship digital education and training initiative, writes Valeriya Ionan.

Conflict Digital Policy

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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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UkraineAlert

Feb 12, 2025

Europe must prepare to defend itself in an increasingly multipolar world

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Mykola Bielieskov</span>

With the United States looking to pivot away from Europe to Asia and a revisionist Russia openly embracing an expansionist agenda, European leaders must prepare to defend themselves in an increasingly multipolar world, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Conflict Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

Feb 11, 2025

Can Russia be held accountable for the crime of aggression in Ukraine?

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert">Kristina Hook</span>

In early February, a coalition of 37 countries announced “significant progress” toward the establishment of a special tribunal for the international crime of aggression against Ukraine, writes Kristina Hook.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Feb 11, 2025

How Ukraine’s shadow army fights back against the Russian occupation

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Omar Ashour</span>

Ukraine’s resistance movement has evolved significantly in the eleven years since the onset of Russian military aggression, with a dramatic escalation following the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, writes Omar Ashour.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Feb 6, 2025

Ukraine can play a key role in Europe’s future energy architecture

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Nataliya Katser-Buchkovska</span>

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the need for Europe to pursue greater energy flexibility and connectivity, writes Nataliya Katser-Buchkovska.

Conflict Economy & Business

UkraineAlert

Feb 6, 2025

Russian foreign minister compares Trump’s ‘America First’ to Nazi propaganda

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert">Peter Dickinson</span>

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has compared US President Donald Trump's "America First" concept to Nazi propaganda as the Kremlin continues its long tradition of exploiting the trauma of World War II to demonize opponents, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Feb 4, 2025

Russia’s war against the West will continue until Putin tastes defeat

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert">Andriy Zagorodnyuk</span>

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is part of a far larger war against the West. If he succeeds in Ukraine, Putin aims to destroy the existing rules-based world order and usher in a new era dominated by a handful of great powers, writes Andriy Zagorodnyuk.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Jan 30, 2025

Ukrainian Holocaust survivor: Russia is waging ‘war of extermination’

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert">Peter Dickinson</span>

Ukrainian Holocaust survivor Roman Schwarzman has implored Germany to increase support for Ukraine in the fight against Russia’s “war of extermination,” writes Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jan 29, 2025

The West must study the success of Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Doug Livermore</span>

The success of Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces in the war against Russia can provide a range of valuable lessons for Kyiv's Western partners that will shape military doctrines for years to come, writes Doug Livermore.

Artificial Intelligence Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jan 29, 2025

Can increased energy sector sanctions pressure Putin into peace talks?

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Aura Sabadus</span>

US President Donald Trump has warned Russia that he will impose economic measures including taxes, tariffs, and sanctions unless Russian President Vladimir Putin agrees to end the war in Ukraine, writes Aura Sabadus.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Jan 28, 2025

Ukrainian drones and missiles target Putin’s war machine inside Russia

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >David Kirichenko</span>

Ukraine has begun 2025 with an ambitious air offensive utilizing the country's expanding arsenal of domestically produced drones and missiles to target Putin's war machine inside Russia, writes David Kirichenko.

Conflict Defense Industry