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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

Oct 12, 2023

Russia’s Ukraine invasion highlights the need for fundamental UN reform

By
Paul Niland

The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the ineffectiveness of the current international security architecture and underlined the need for fundamental reform of the United Nations, writes Paul Niland.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Oct 10, 2023

Ukrainians fear becoming hostage to US political paralysis

By
Peter Dickinson

The unprecedented removal of Kevin McCarthy as House speaker has thrust US politics into uncharted territory while also sparking alarm across the Atlantic as Ukrainians fear for the future of vital American military aid, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Oct 9, 2023

Russian imperialism shapes public support for the war against Ukraine

By
Neringa Klumbytė

Modern Russia retains an imperialistic ideology that is fueling strong public support for the war in Ukraine amid deep-rooted perceptions of Ukrainians as misguided younger siblings in need of correction, writes Neringa Klumbytė.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Oct 5, 2023

Vladimir Putin is still convinced he can outlast the West in Ukraine

By
Dennis Soltys

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has united the democratic world to a degree not seen in decades, but the Western response to the war continues to be hampered by excessive fear of provoking Putin, writes Dennis Soltys.

Conflict
Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Oct 4, 2023

Putin’s fleet retreats: Ukraine is winning the Battle of the Black Sea

By
Peter Dickinson

Putin was already struggling to account for his army’s evident inability to conquer a nation that he insists does not exist. He must now also explain how his once vaunted Black Sea Fleet is being defeated by a country without a navy, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Oct 3, 2023

Mixed messaging from Moldova on energy sector reforms

By
Suriya Evans-Pritchard Jayanti

Recent steps by the Moldovan authorities cast doubt on Chisinau’s commitment to energy market liberalization, escaping Russian energy dominance, and anti-corruption imperatives, writes Suriya Jayanti.

Conflict
Corruption


UkraineAlert

Sep 30, 2023

Ukraine’s soccer stars help to keep Russia’s invasion in global spotlight

By
Renat Zihanshyn, Oleksandra Gaidai

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed soccer legend Andriy Shevchenko as an advisor on September 26 in recognition of the role played by Ukrainian footballers in keeping Ukraine’s struggle against Russian aggression in the global spotlight.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Sep 30, 2023

Can US Abrams tanks help Ukraine achieve a battlefield breakthrough?

By
Olivia Yanchik

The first US M1 Abrams tanks arrived in Ukraine in late September, writes Olivia Yanchik. Will these American tanks help Ukraine to achieve a breakthrough against Vladimir Putin’s deeply entrenched Russian invasion force?

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Sep 27, 2023

Ukraine’s counteroffensive is making real progress on the Crimean front

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s escalating attacks in Crimea are steadily undermining Russia’s invasion and are a reminder that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is not limited to the relatively static front lines of the war, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Sep 26, 2023

Ukraine’s drone army is bringing Putin’s invasion home to Russia

By
Mykola Bielieskov

Ukraine’s increasingly formidable drone army is enabling Kyiv to bring Vladimir Putin’s invasion home to Russia and strike strategic targets throughout the Russian Federation, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Conflict
Defense Industry

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.

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Content

UkraineAlert

Jul 10, 2017

Ukraine’s Parliament Faces Moment of Truth

By William B. Taylor

This week Ukraine’s parliament will vote on sweeping health care reform. If passed, the reform will modernize the country’s Soviet-era health care system and bring it up to international standards. However, the bill is currently being held hostage to political partisanship, which works to the detriment of Ukraine’s national interests. If the bill fails, then […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 10, 2017

Trump Administration Is Serious about Ukraine After All

By Diane Francis

Kyiv had a very good week. On July 9, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced that sanctions against Russia will remain in place until the Kremlin takes the first step to ease tensions in eastern Ukraine. And on July 7, before US President Donald Trump and Russia President Vladimir Putin met for the first […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 5, 2017

Against All Odds, Ukraine’s Refugees Rebuild

By Diane Francis

The unfinished concrete block house outside Kyiv is home to twenty-three refugees who were evacuated from the war in Ukraine. They share one bathroom, one kitchen, one television, and sleep on bunkbeds on its second floor. Furnishings are makeshift, the house is dark, appliances are donated, and the stairs are rickety. Most are elderly, two […]

Ukraine

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