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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

Why Does the IMF Keep Funding Ukraine?

UkraineAlert
Sep 30, 2025

Putin’s dream of demilitarizing Ukraine has turned into his worst nightmare

By
Peter Dickinson

Putin had hoped to demilitarize and decapitate the Ukrainian state, but his self-defeating invasion has inadvertently created the militarily powerful and fiercely independent Ukraine he feared most of all, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Technologies

Why Does the IMF Keep Funding Ukraine?

UkraineAlert
Oct 2, 2025

Drone superpower Ukraine is teaching NATO how to defend against Russia

By
David Kirichenko

Ukraine’s unrivaled experience of drone warfare makes it a key partner for NATO and an indispensable ally in the defense of Europe as the continent faces up to the mounting threat posed by an expansionist Russia, writes David Kirichenko.

Conflict
Defense Technologies

Why Does the IMF Keep Funding Ukraine?

UkraineAlert
Oct 14, 2025

Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure are a European problem

By
Aura Sabadus

Russia’s strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure are no longer just a Ukrainian problem. Moscow’s bombing campaign will become a wider European issue unless more support is offered to Kyiv, writes Aura Sabadus.

Conflict
Drones

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Nov 2, 2021

Putin’s Ukraine War: Russian MP recalls efforts to push civil war myth

By
Peter Dickinson

Russian MP Alexander Borodai’s frank recent comments about Russia’s responsibility for the war in Ukraine underline the current sense of impunity in Moscow and expose the absurdity of Russia’s ongoing denials.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Nov 2, 2021

Ukraine’s dangerous Winter Olympic obsession

By
Nicholas Bell, Lukas Straumann

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has declared his intention to bring the Winter Olympics to the country, but environmentalists fear the initiative will cause irreparable damage to some of the most valuable mountain ecosystems in Europe.

Climate Change & Climate Action
Energy & Environment


UkraineAlert

Nov 2, 2021

Two years of Lifeline Ukraine

By
Paul Niland

Since it was launched in October 2019, Lifeline Ukraine has evolved from its original focus on support for Ukrainian combat veterans into a fully-fledged national suicide prevention hotline.

Conflict
Human Rights


UkraineAlert

Oct 28, 2021

Strong Ukraine-Turkey partnership holds the key to Black Sea security

By
Dmytro Kuleba

The strengthening strategic partnership between Ukraine and Turkey is vital for Black Sea security and offers a model for greater NATO engagement in the region, writes Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba.

Conflict
Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Oct 28, 2021

Gas price caps would be a disaster for the Ukrainian economy

By
Willem Buiter

Ukraine’s proposed price cap on private company natural gas sales is symptomatic of what is wrong with the country’s broader approach to the market economy and must be avoided at all costs, writes Willem Buiter.

Energy & Environment
Energy Markets & Governance


UkraineAlert

Oct 27, 2021

Europe must defend itself against Vladimir Putin’s energy weapon

By
Diane Francis

Moscow’s role in Europe’s escalating gas crisis should be a wake-up call for European policymakers who prefer to downplay the threat posed by weaponized Russian energy supplies and Vladimir Putin’s revisionist regime.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Oct 26, 2021

Ukraine seeks role in German certification of Putin’s pipeline

By
Myron Wasylyk

Ukraine’s Naftogaz has applied to the German authorities to participate in the certification process of Vladimir Putin’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which is viewed in Kyiv as a geopolitical weapon aimed at Ukrainian statehood.

Energy Markets & Governance
European Union


UkraineAlert

Oct 25, 2021

Europe must face up to the chilling reality of Putin’s energy blackmail

By
Aura Sabadus

Recent developments in Moldova and the EU leave little doubt that Vladimir Putin is intent on using energy supplies as a geopolitical weapon and demonstrate the urgent need to diversify away from reliance on Russia.

European Union
Geopolitics & Energy Security


UkraineAlert

Oct 22, 2021

US and EU must react to escalating global energy crisis

By
Anders Åslund

Recent mistakes by Germany, the EU, and the United States on gas policy are potentially disastrous and will have major costs unless all three parties urgently rethink their positions and address the growing energy crisis.

China
European Union


UkraineAlert

Oct 21, 2021

Ukraine’s classical music superstar Oksana Lyniv makes history again

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s superstar classical music conductor Oksana Lyniv made history yet again in October 2021 when she was named as the first ever female musical director of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna in Italy.

Resilience & Society
Ukraine

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spotlight

Resilience in the face of adversity

Ukraine’s transformation

Ukraine has moved tentatively toward an open society and market economy since independence. The country has held several democratic elections and made halting progress in addressing corruption and state control in its economy. Since the 2014 Maidan Revolution, Ukraine has undertaken significant governance and economic reform and moved decisively toward a Europe-Atlantic foreign policy. Since 2022, Ukraine has resiliently continued to advance some reforms despite fighting for its very existence against the full-scale Russian invasion.

Learn more about Ukraine

Why Does the IMF Keep Funding Ukraine?

UkraineAlert
Dec 5, 2024

Ukraine’s entrepreneurial class can drive the country’s economic recovery

The Ukrainian SME sector has demonstrated remarkable wartime resilience and is poised to be at the forefront of efforts to create a modern, innovative, postwar economy, writes Anton Waschuk.

Read More

Why Does the IMF Keep Funding Ukraine?

UkraineAlert
Oct 1, 2024

Ukraine needs international investors to maintain defense tech momentum

By
Mykhailo Fedorov

Ukraine’s rapidly expanding defense tech sector can play a game-changing role in the war against Russia but Ukrainian companies need international investment, writes Ukraine’s Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov.

Artificial Intelligence
Conflict

Why Does the IMF Keep Funding Ukraine?

UkraineAlert
Jun 13, 2024

Ukraine officially embraces English as historic westward pivot continues

By
Oleksiy Goncharenko

By officially embracing English, Ukrainians aim to support their country’s historic pivot away from Moscow and return to the European community of nations, writes Oleksiy Goncharenko.

Civil Society
Conflict

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 11, 2017

Why Does the IMF Keep Funding Ukraine?

By Anders Åslund

When the International Monetary Fund’s board convened on April 3, it found that the Ukrainian government had fulfilled only five out of fourteen structural reform conditions it had outlined. Nevertheless, Ukraine received a $1 billion installment of its $17.5 billion financial support for the government’s reform program. Was it pure politics that Ukraine got a […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 10, 2017

Why Did Putin Get Stuck in Eastern Ukraine?

By Peter Dickinson

Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine is now entering its fourth year, but there was a time when few expected it to last even four weeks. The virtually bloodless seizure of Crimea, which fell to Russian troops in early 2014 without a fight, led most observers to conclude that Ukraine was effectively defenseless and at Moscow’s […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 10, 2017

Is Russia Winning in Serbia? Maybe, But Not for the Reasons You Think

By Dimitar Bechev

One year ago, in April 2016 when Serbia held snap polls, the BBC ran the headline “Pro-EU Prime Minister Vučić Claims Victory.” One year later, after Aleksandar Vučić’s resounding win in the presidential election on April 2, the international media has styled him “Putin’s Serb ally.” Who’s right and where is Serbian foreign policy heading? […]

European Union
International Organizations

UkraineAlert

Apr 10, 2017

From Trench Coats to Tuxedos: How the Kremlin Deploys its Dirty Tricks Today

By Diane Francis

The same dirty tricks deployed by the KGB for decades are used in today’s Cold War 2.0, and have permeated geopolitics from Syria to Ukraine and the world’s capitals. But spies in trench coats been supplanted by Russians in tuxedos with huge bank accounts who use financial, social, and political weaponry to build tentacles that […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 5, 2017

The Coming Crackdown on Ukraine’s Anticorruption Crusaders

By Daria Kaleniuk

President Petro Poroshenko’s new restrictions on anticorruption groups are appalling and threaten to reverse much of the progress Ukraine has made since the Euromaidan. Some analysts who defend the new law have got the details all wrong. Others have sounded the alarm, but the fine points of the regulations remain murky. On March 27, Poroshenko […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 3, 2017

Three Ways the West Can Get Tougher on Russia for Crimea Land Grab

By Taras Kuzio

Russia’s occupation of Crimea has reached its third anniversary, and there is no evidence in sight that President Vladimir Putin will withdraw his occupation forces. Both the United States and Canada have reiterated their support for continued sanctions against Russia as long as Crimea continues to be occupied. Still, ending Russia’s illegal occupation could take […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 31, 2017

Is Russia Getting Ready to Invade Ukraine Again?

By Stephen Blank

Recent Russian actions suggest a new stage of the Russian threat to Ukraine—and potentially to the Caucasus, Belarus, or the Baltic States as well—that could presage a new large-scale military operation. First, in 2016, Russia created twenty-five division formations and fifteen brigades, while raising manpower by only 10,000 men. This suggests the possibility that Russia […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 30, 2017

Why Putin’s Flirtation with the French Far Right May Backfire

By Péter Krekó and Alina Polyakova

On March 24, Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s National Front (FN) party and a contender for the French presidency, flew to Moscow for a surprise visit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Le Pen’s photo op of a one-on-one meeting with Russia’s president certainly made her look presidential, but it’s an image that may […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

Mar 30, 2017

One Small Step for Georgia, One Giant Leap for the EU

By Alexandra Hall Hall

At a time when doors across the West are closing to migrants, one small country has managed to buck the trend: the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia. On March 28, the country secured visa-free travel to the Schengen area of the EU, which includes all member states except Ireland, the United Kingdom, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania, and […]

European Union
International Organizations

UkraineAlert

Mar 29, 2017

Ukraine Is in the Middle of a Counterrevolution Again. Is Anyone Paying Attention?

By Maxim Eristavi

While the world is distracted by multiple crises, Ukraine’s ruling elites are trying to undo the modest progress the country has achieved since the Maidan Revolution. Despite the mainstream narrative, when it comes to reforms in post-revolutionary Ukraine, the record has been anything but black and white. But if you need a consensus on the […]

Ukraine
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