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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

Nov 6, 2025

Vladimir Putin’s endless nuclear threats are a sign of Russian weakness

By
Stephen Blank

Since 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly used nuclear threats to deter Western support for Ukraine, but this scare tactic risks exposing Russia’s inability to project strength via more conventional means, writes Stephen Blank.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Nov 6, 2025

Ukraine’s youth exodus highlights mounting demographic challenges

By
Kateryna Odarchenko, Zoryana Golovata

Thousands of young Ukrainian men have left the country since the relaxation of martial law travel restrictions in August. The exodus has highlighted Ukraine’s mounting demographic challenges, write Kateryna Odarchenko, Zoryana Golovata.

Conflict
Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Nov 6, 2025

Learning the lessons from Ukraine’s fight against Russian cyber warfare

By
Oleksandr Bakalynskyi, Maggie McDonough

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is among the most technologically advanced wars the world has seen. But while rapid developments in drone warfare tend to attract most attention, the cyber front also offers important lessons for international audiences, write Oleksandr Bakalynskyi and Maggie McDonough.

Conflict
Cybersecurity


UkraineAlert

Nov 4, 2025

EU praises Ukraine’s progress but warns Zelenskyy over corruption

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s bid to join the EU received a boost this week with the release of a report praising the country’s progress toward future membership, but EU officials also warned President Zelenskyy about the dangers of backsliding on anti-corruption reforms, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Corruption


UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2025

Europe finally moves to ban Russian gas but potential loopholes remain

By
Aura Sabadus

The EU has recently moved to impose a full ban on Russian gas imports by 2028. After years of using energy exports to blackmail Europe and fund the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow is finally facing the loss of its last European costumers, writes Aura Sabadus.

Conflict
Economic Sanctions


UkraineAlert

Oct 30, 2025

Russia’s advance on Pokrovsk exposes Ukraine’s growing manpower crisis

By
Peter Dickinson

As Russian troops close in on the strategically crucial city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv’s growing manpower shortages are becoming increasingly apparent, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Oct 30, 2025

Belarusian balloons pose new threat in Putin’s hybrid war against Europe

By
Hanna Liubakova

Lithuanian officials have accused neighboring Belarus of using balloons to violate EU airspace and disrupt air traffic as part of the Kremlin’s ongoing hybrid war against Europe, writes Hanna Liubakova.

Belarus
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Oct 28, 2025

UN report: Russia targets civilians in systematic bid to depopulate Ukraine

By
Peter Dickinson

Russia is deliberately targeting Ukrainian civilians in a deadly drone strike campaign that aims to depopulate large parts of the country and constitutes a crime against humanity, according to a new United Nations report, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Oct 23, 2025

Russia’s ‘human safari’ in southern Ukraine is a warning to the world

By
Oleksandr Tolokonnikov

Russia’s escalating campaign of drone attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine’s Kherson region highlights the destructive power of modern drone technologies, writes Oleksandr Tolokonnikov.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Oct 23, 2025

US voices concern over Chinese support for Russia’s Ukraine invasion

By
Katherine Spencer

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has raised concerns over Chinese components in Russian military drones amid fresh allegations of Beijing’s mounting support for Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, writes Katherine Spencer.

China
Conflict

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

Dec 12, 2016

Swedish Tech Entrepreneurs Find Top Talent and Warm Welcome in Ukraine

By Diane Francis

Gustav Henman describes his time at Moscow State University as a “Russian cold shower.” But he was no stranger to cold weather as a Swede, and has ended up in Ukraine, where the weather is slightly more moderate and the engineering talent plentiful. He and his business partner, Andreas Flodström, went to Ukraine in 2012 […]

Northern Europe Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 7, 2016

Beware of the Russian Bear in the Balkans

By Harriet Salem

On October 16, just hours before Montenegrins were due to head to the polls, the government made an alarming announcement. It claimed security services had foiled a Russian nationalist attempt to seize control of the parliament and assassinate Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic (who has since resigned). The Kremlin undoubtedly has an axe to grind with […]

Russia The Balkans

UkraineAlert

Dec 7, 2016

Sanctions on Russia Need More Teeth

By Sergey Aleksashenko

It has been more than two years since the European Union and the United States imposed economic sanctions on Russia for its aggression in Ukraine. How effective have the sanctions been? According to US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland in 2016, sanctions were meant to “press Moscow to bring an end to the violence […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 6, 2016

Trump, Brexit, and the Myth of Ukrainian Nationalism

By Peter Dickinson

The election of Donald Trump to the US presidency is the latest indication that the liberal globalist consensus of the post-Cold War era is finally over. The sanctity of political correctness has been shattered and we now find ourselves hurtling headlong into the uncharted territory of anti-establishment populism. Trump’s triumph is part of a broader […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 5, 2016

There’s More to DC Fashion than Gray Suits and More to Ukraine than War

By Melinda Haring

Vogue cannot get enough of Ukraine’s new designers and eye-catching traditional designs. Since the Euromaidan, the magazine has covered the country’s hot fashion scene half a dozen times. On November 30, seven of Ukraine’s designers were on display at a fashion show in Washington, DC, “to celebrate Ukraine’s creative culture,” said Alexa Chopivsky, executive director […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 5, 2016

“Ukraine Is Approaching the Turning Point: The Choice Is Reform or Chaos,” Saakashvili Warns

By Diane Francis

Former Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili’s opening remarks at the Kyiv Post’s Tiger Conference on November 29 were puzzling. “Thanks for a couple of cameras,” he said. He was referring to the fact that even though he is a national figure with a resonant message in Ukraine, he’s the victim of a news blackout by the […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 2, 2016

Ukraine’s Most Overlooked Reform Could Bring in Billions

By Maxim Martynyuk and Alexei Sobchenko

Of the key battles fought in post-Maidan Ukraine, the one over land reform attracts little attention. That’s a shame, too. Parliament’s unwillingness to allow the sale of private farmland “is the biggest source of immediately available economic growth that the government has failed to utilize,” Swedish economist Anders Åslund has noted. The latest clash over […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 1, 2016

A New Approach to Reintegrating Eastern Ukraine and Crimea

By Oksana Bedratenko

Russian aggression is not likely to go away soon. As a result, Ukraine needs to revise the current framework guiding its economic disengagement from the occupied regions of the Donbas and Crimea. Economic disengagement limits the risks of financing terrorism with money coming from mainland Ukraine, and makes sure that the occupied areas of Donbas […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 1, 2016

Yatsenyuk at the European Parliament: It’s Time for Europe to Do Its Part

By Amanda Abrams

With respect to Ukraine and Russia’s aggression in the eastern part of the country, Europe needs to step up its game. That was the consensus at “The War in Ukraine’s East: The Military Conflict, Diplomacy, and the Humanitarian Crisis,” a discussion co-hosted by the Atlantic Council and Members of the European Parliament Anna Maria Corazza […]

Europe & Eurasia European Union

UkraineAlert

Nov 30, 2016

Why Russia Can’t Get Over the West—Or Steven Seagal

By Andrew Kornbluth

It seemed like the international affairs version of clickbait: the president of the world’s leading nuclear state awarding citizenship to a foreign actor most famous for playing an ex-commando who must rescue an exotic dancer while foiling a plot to start World War III on the high seas. For most onlookers, Vladimir Putin’s gift of […]

Russia Ukraine