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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

Feb 20, 2026

After four years of Russia’s invasion, time to stop underestimating Ukraine

By
Mykola Bielieskov

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters a fifth year, it is time to stop underestimating the Ukrainian military and recognize that Kyiv is now a major military power with plenty of trump cards in its possession, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Conflict
Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Feb 19, 2026

Ukraine hopes escalating Russian losses will push Putin toward peace

By
David Kirichenko

As the Russian invasion enters a fifth year, Ukraine is hoping escalating Russian losses can finally force Putin to seek a meaningful settlement, writes David Kirichenko.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Feb 19, 2026

As Russian battlefield losses mount, Putin is turning to Africa for soldiers

By
Katherine Spencer

Russia’s growing reliance on African recruits to continue the war in Ukraine is a powerful symbol of an invasion that has gone horribly wrong for Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin, writes Katherine Spencer.

Africa
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Feb 17, 2026

Ukrainian defense tech companies must prepare for export opportunities

By
Michael Druckman

Ukraine’s defense sector has already demonstrated enormous battlefield credibility. The next phase is commercial and institutional credibility, writes Michael Druckman.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Feb 17, 2026

A bad Ukraine peace could ignite new wars in Russia’s former empire

By
Joseph Epstein

If a settlement in Ukraine frees up Russian military resources without establishing credible deterrents against further Kremlin aggression, Moscow will have the means and the motive to reassert dominance elsewhere in its former empire, writes Joseph Epstein.

Central Asia
European Union


UkraineAlert

Feb 12, 2026

Vladimir Putin is trapped in a war he cannot win but dare not end

By
Peter Dickinson

As the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale Ukraine invasion approaches, Vladimir Putin finds himself trapped in a war he cannot win but dare not end for fear of entering Russian history as the man who lost Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Feb 12, 2026

Ukraine says lifting football ban would risk legitimizing Russia’s invasion

By
Mark Temnycky

Ukraine’s Sports Minister Matvii Bidnyi has slammed calls for Russia’s return to international football and warned that any attempt to reinstate the Russians would risk legitimizing the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, writes Mark Temnycky.

Conflict
Corruption


UkraineAlert

Feb 9, 2026

The Putin regime faces mounting pressure but is still far from collapse

By
Will Dixon, Maksym Beznosiuk

Russia is facing mounting challenges on the battlefield in Ukraine and on the home front, but predictions that the Putin regime is on the brink of collapse remain premature, write Will Dixon and Maksym Beznosiuk.

Conflict
Corruption


UkraineAlert

Feb 7, 2026

Death by cold: Russia is attempting to freeze millions of Ukrainian civilians

By
Kristina Hook

Russia is methodically bombing Ukraine’s power and heating infrastructure amid arctic weather conditions in a bid to freeze millions of Ukrainian civilians and make much of the country unlivable, writes Kristina Hook.

Conflict
Drones


UkraineAlert

Feb 5, 2026

Ukrainian democracy is proving its resilience in wartime conditions

By
Oleksiy Goncharenko

Since the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion four years ago, Ukrainians have accepted the necessity of wartime measures to concentrate power while remaining committed to safeguarding the country’s hard-won democratic gains, writes Oleksiy Goncharenko.

Civil Society
Conflict

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Content

UkraineAlert

Jun 6, 2017

Ulana Suprun: Tough, Tenacious, and Transforming Ukraine’s Health Care

By Melinda Haring

For nearly a year, Dr. Ulana Suprun has been pressing for a complete revamp of Ukraine’s health care system, and she is finally close to seeing it replaced by a brand-new set of policies. She’s got a firm deadline: the current parliamentary session ends on July 14. If she can’t get the bill passed in […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 1, 2017

Ukraine Beats Russia in Epic Gas Battle

By Anders Aslund

On May 31, Ukraine’s Naftogaz won an extraordinary victory over Russia’s Gazprom in the international arbitration court in Stockholm. This was the possibly biggest international arbitration verdict ever. Gazprom had claimed $47.1 billion from Naftogaz, half of Ukraine’s GDP, and Naftogaz $30.3 billion from Gazprom.   Naftogaz won on all three counts the court considered. […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 31, 2017

NATO’s Double Standards: Why Montenegro but Not Ukraine?

By Taras Kuzio

On June 5, Montenegro will become the twenty-ninth member of NATO. This comes at a time when accession talks with the EU are also occurring; the EU has offered membership to Montenegro and other countries in the western Balkans. To any careful observer, it is obvious that the standards for Montenegro’s inclusion in the alliance […]

NATO
Russia

UkraineAlert

May 31, 2017

Will Ukraine’s New Supreme Court Be Any Different?

By Mykhailo Zhernakov

Every successful reform needs the right legal framework, the right institutions, and the right people. Take NABU—Ukraine’s newly established National Anticorruption Bureau. This spring it managed to arrest the notorious head of the State Fiscal Service Roman Nasirov, and one of the country’s top political moguls Mykola Martynenko—a task no other law enforcement body would […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 31, 2017

How Putin Accidentally United Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine became an independent country in 1991, but it took the outbreak of war in 2014 to forge it into a fully-fledged nation. As is often the case with major historic shifts, this change was not immediately apparent at the time. Even now, three years on, it may come as news to the millions of […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 25, 2017

Ukrainians Discover Europe This Summer. Will Europe Discover Ukraine?

By James Brooke

Ukraine is embarking on its summer of Europe. On June 11, summer starts with a boom. That’s when visa-free tourism begins for Ukrainians, allowing them to visit the twenty-six countries of Europe’s Schengen zone, including the four non-EU members. Only Britain and Ireland are excluded. To carry the tourists, discount airlines Wizz Air and Ryanair […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 25, 2017

It’s Counterintuitive, but Arming Ukraine Will Actually Save US Taxpayers Money

By Stephen Blank

In April, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asked, “Why should US taxpayers be interested in Ukraine?” Now, the United States does not always provide assistance or help defend other victims of aggression, so the answer must go beyond the simple observation that Ukraine is the victim of premeditated aggression. I see five reasons why. First, […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 24, 2017

The Obvious Mistake We Make in Fighting Russian Disinformation

By Geysha Gonzalez

“The person who tells their story best, wins,” said Jed Willard of the FDR Center for Global Engagement at Harvard University in Prague on May 17, succinctly explaining the challenges of fighting disinformation. Willard and 330 other experts from twenty-nine countries gathered in Prague for a strategic communications summit (STRATCOM) hosted by European Values, a […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

May 24, 2017

Will Facebook Finally Fight Disinformation or Just Make Things Worse?

By Nina Jankowicz

For years, Facebook has quietly and very intentionally inserted itself into the daily lives of its users. It has succeeded wildly, becoming arguably the world’s most ubiquitous communication platform, with an average of 1.28 billion daily users. But now that it has become one of the world’s most popular sources of news, Facebook is failing […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

May 23, 2017

By Changing Alphabet, Kazakhs Take Another Step Toward the West

By Ariel Cohen

Kazakhstan has decided to switch alphabets, from Cyrillic to Latin script, by 2025. After decades of Russian and Soviet domination, countries are developing their own cultural code, though some feel uneasy about the change. Yet the Latin alphabet will only boost Kazakhstan’s international integration and its economic, technological, and scientific development. Plus, Latin script isn’t […]

Central Asia