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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

Ukraine Needs Tough Love and IMF Conditionality, Leshchenko Urges

UkraineAlert
Jan 20, 2026

Ukraine’s best security guarantee is the ability to strike back inside Russia

By
Serhii Kuzan

With Kyiv’s Western allies unlikely to risk war with Russia, Ukraine’s most realistic security guarantee remains a strong military coupled with the ability to strike targets deep inside Russia, writes Serhii Kuzan.

Conflict
Defense Policy

Ukraine Needs Tough Love and IMF Conditionality, Leshchenko Urges

UkraineAlert
Jan 15, 2026

Veterans can shape the future of Ukrainian democracy

By
Vasyl Sehin

The participation of military veterans in Ukraine’s political life has the potential to dramatically strengthen Ukrainian democracy and safeguard the country’s historic transition from centuries of Russian autocracy, writes Vasyl Sehin.

Conflict
Democratic Transitions

Ukraine Needs Tough Love and IMF Conditionality, Leshchenko Urges

UkraineAlert
Jan 8, 2026

Ukraine’s robot army will be crucial in 2026 but drones can’t replace infantry

By
David Kirichenko

Ukraine’s growing robot army of land drones will play a vital role in the country’s defense during 2026, but they are not wonder weapons and cannot serve as a miracle cure for Kyiv’s manpower shortages, writes David Kirichenko.

Artificial Intelligence
Conflict

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Jul 25, 2025

Ukraine’s supporters should prioritize unity and focus on defeating Russia

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Pavlo Grod</span>

Wartime Ukraine needs unity. Even when the country’s supporters bitterly disagree, it is important to remember exactly what is at stake, writes Pavlo Grod.


Civil Society

Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 24, 2025

Wartime protests prove Ukraine’s democratic instincts are still strong

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

This week’s nationwide protests are a reminder that Ukraine’s grassroots democratic instincts remain exceptionally strong despite the current wartime conditions in the country, writes Peter Dickinson.


Civil Society

Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 24, 2025

Ukraine is now an indispensable security partner for the US and Europe

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Oleksiy Goncharenko </span>

Ukraine's million-strong army and unique experience of the twenty-first-century battlefield makes it an indispensable security partner for the United States and Europe, writes Oleksiy Goncharenko.


Conflict

Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Jul 22, 2025

Ukraine rocked by first wartime protests amid attacks on anti-corruption agencies

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Andrew D’Anieri</span>

For more than a decade, Ukrainians have been fighting a two-front war: against Russian aggression and against high-level political corruption. So it's puzzling to see Kyiv move to gut independent anti-corruption agencies, writes Andrew D'Anieri.


Civil Society

Corruption


UkraineAlert

Jul 21, 2025

NATO is unprepared for the growing threat posed by Putin’s Russia

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Elena Davlikanova, Yevhenii Malik</span>

NATO officials believe Russia could attack the alliance within five years but NATO members are still not ready to face the threat posed by Vladimir Putin's expansionist regime, write Elena Davlikanova and Yevhenii Malik.


Conflict

Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Jul 21, 2025

Wartime Ukraine must translate international attention into investment

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Viktor Liakh, Anna Derevyanko</span>

The 2025 Ukraine Recovery Conference showed that the country has the political backing and business potential to emerge stronger than ever, but this potential is not enough. The time for action and investment is now, write Viktor Liakh and Anna Derevyanko.


Conflict

Corruption


UkraineAlert

Jul 17, 2025

Ukraine’s recovery cannot wait until Russia’s invasion is over

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Anna Morgan</span>

The recent Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome brought together thousands of participants and established new connections that could bolster Kyiv's wartime resilience while also setting the stage for the country's revival, writes Anna Morgan.


Conflict

Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Jul 14, 2025

Russia’s bombing campaign is killing record numbers of Ukrainian civilians

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

As Russia's bombing campaign continues to escalate, June 2025 saw the highest monthly casualties among the Ukrainian civilian population in more than three years, according to new data from the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict

Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Jul 14, 2025

A Western-funded drone surge could end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Mark Boris Andrijanič</span>

Ukraine has the technology, talent, and industrial potential to prevail in the war with Russia, but currently lacks the funding to scale drone production to the necessary levels, writes Mark Boris Andrijanič.


Conflict

Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Jul 13, 2025

Ukraine can benefit from growing tech ties between Gulf states and the US

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Anatoly Motkin</span>

As the Middle East adjusts to new geopolitical realities, growing tech sector cooperation between the US and the Gulf states is creating a range of opportunities for Ukraine, writes Anatoly Motkin.


Conflict

Cybersecurity

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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

Ukraine Needs Tough Love and IMF Conditionality, Leshchenko Urges

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

Ukraine Needs Tough Love and IMF Conditionality, Leshchenko Urges

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

Ukraine Needs Tough Love and IMF Conditionality, Leshchenko Urges

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

May 10, 2017

Ukraine Needs Tough Love and IMF Conditionality, Leshchenko Urges

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Diane Francis</span>

“The IMF should not give one more dollar to Ukraine until the Anti-Corruption Court is in operation,” said Sergii Leshchenko in a May 9 telephone interview. Leshchenko is a hero of the Revolution of Dignity, a lanky and serious journalist-turned-politician who has risked his life and career for years to fight corruption in Ukraine. He’s […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 10, 2017

Russia Deploys Banned Missile and Brags about It

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Semen Kabakaev</span>

Thirty years ago, on December 8, 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), which entered into force on June 1, 1988. The parties pledged not to produce, test or deploy ballistic and cruise land-based missiles of medium range (from 1,000 to 5,500 kilometers). Elimination of all declared missiles and […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 9, 2017

How to Win Friends and Influence People on a Global Scale

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Alexandra Hall Hall</span>

Dale Carnegie’s famous self-help book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, centers on investing in personal relationships in order to achieve success. President Donald Trump has demonstrated an instinctive understanding of this principle in the way he has interacted with a succession of world leaders, whether over a round of golf at Mar-a-Lago or […]

The Caucasus

UkraineAlert

May 8, 2017

How Trump Can Fix US-Russia Ties

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Alexander Vershbow</span>

US President Donald Trump will have his first high-level meeting with a Russian representative this week, when Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov comes to the White House following a scheduled meeting with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The stakes are high: about the only thing on which Moscow and Washington agree is that relations are at […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 5, 2017

How Not to Become a War Criminal: A Guide for Russian Soldiers

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Valentyn Badrak, Lada Roslycky, Mykhailo Samus, and Volodymyr Kopchak</span>

Few Russian citizens view the Kremlin’s invasion into Ukraine as unlawful. Not many Russian servicemen realize that when they are fighting there, they fight as unnamed, faceless soldiers who lack the protection of international pacts, including the Geneva Conventions. They not only risk death, injury, or abandonment by the state that sent them there; they […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 4, 2017

Why Is the Kremlin So Fixated on Phantom Fascists?

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

In April, reports emerged of Kremlin plans to launch a major smear campaign against Russian opposition figurehead Alexey Navalny. Within days, an expensive-looking attack video had appeared anonymously on YouTube, comparing Navalny to Adolf Hitler. The Russian authorities denied any connection to the video, but few believed them. After all, branding opponents as fascists is […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 3, 2017

Will Ukrainians Ever Trust the Press?

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Adam Tismaneanu</span>

Journalism has changed since the Euromaidan, but most Ukrainians still don’t trust the media. Oligarchs continue to own a majority of the major outlets. Since 2014, reformers have established a public broadcasting service and are in the process of privatizing several hundred state-owned newspapers. Those steps may not be enough. The media suffers from a […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 3, 2017

Mikheil Saakashvili: “By my own standards, I failed on every account in Odesa.”

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Diane Francis</span>

Mikheil Saakashvili strode into the Toronto Four Seasons Hotel on a Saturday morning, all smiles and apologies for being late. The café was empty, except for myself, a handful of patrons, and a young waiter who had recently immigrated from Ukraine. I told him who I was waiting for and he smiled. Saakashvili is only […]

Russia The Caucasus

UkraineAlert

May 2, 2017

Does RT Really Believe in Free Speech? Prove It

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Jeffrey Gedmin</span>

RT aims to discredit the United States in a straightforward way. The Kremlin-funded television network—established in 2005, operating in English, Arabic, and Spanish—doesn’t report on America and the West warts and all, but rather focuses single-mindedly on warts alone. That’s not all. Sins of omission, falsehoods, and conspiracy theories—like Ukraine shooting down the Malaysian Airlines […]

France Russia

UkraineAlert

May 1, 2017

What Can Ukraine Learn from the Balkans?

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Gunther Fehlinger</span>

Ukraine wants to join the European Union, but the level of support among many EU member states is low or nonexistent. Many are afraid of Russia’s reaction and lack a clear understanding of both the climate in post-Euromaidan Ukraine and the country’s strong commitment to Western integration. The situation is challenging in all aspects. War […]

Moldova The Balkans
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