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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

The Heavens Are Home to More than One Hundred

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

The Heavens Are Home to More than One Hundred

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

The Heavens Are Home to More than One Hundred

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

Nov 10, 2025

Angelina Jolie highlights the horrors of Russia’s ‘human safari’ in Ukraine

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

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie paid a surprise visit to Ukraine in early November to help raise international awareness about Russia's 'human safari' campaign of drone killings targeting Ukrainian civilians, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict

Drones


UkraineAlert

Nov 6, 2025

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

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Stephen Blank</span>

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
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Kateryna Odarchenko, Zoryana Golovata</span>

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
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Oleksandr Bakalynskyi, Maggie McDonough</span>

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

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
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Aura Sabadus</span>

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

Energy Markets & Governance


UkraineAlert

Oct 30, 2025

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

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

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
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Hanna Liubakova</span>

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

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
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Oleksandr Tolokonnikov</span>

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

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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

The Heavens Are Home to More than One Hundred

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

The Heavens Are Home to More than One Hundred

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

The Heavens Are Home to More than One Hundred

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

Feb 20, 2017

The Heavens Are Home to More than One Hundred

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Robert McConnell</span>

In the fall of 2013, students took to the Maidan (Independence Square) in Kyiv in protest. Their complaint was with then-President Viktor Yanukovych, who had reneged on his pledge to sign the EU’s Association Agreement with Ukraine and was instead negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Euromaidan was underway. Additional protesters streamed into the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 20, 2017

The Nuclear Fallout of a Possible Trump-Putin Détente

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Mariana Budjeryn and Andreas Umland</span>

So far, US President Donald Trump’s Russia policy remains a mystery. Does he want to set in motion a US-Russia rapprochement? If so, sanctions against Russia may be increasingly difficult to sustain. The Trump administration might judge Ukraine’s security and territorial integrity to be a bothersome yet insufficient impediment to mending fences with Putin and, […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 17, 2017

Who’s Up and Who’s Down in Eastern Ukraine?

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Oleksandr Nykonorov and Volodymyr Yermolenko</span>

The Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) are self-proclaimed entities that emerged in spring 2014 in eastern Ukraine thanks to massive Russian support. Ukraine’s attempts to retake them in spring and summer 2014 were stopped by a full-scale Russian military offensive that August. This more or less fixed the demarcation line between […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 15, 2017

Multiculturalism Is the Answer to Ukraine’s Identity Crisis

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

Celebrating diversity: that’s the official theme of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, which will take place in Kyiv this May. This is an inspired choice; Ukraine has been one of Europe’s most diverse and multicultural lands for centuries. Since the Soviet collapse, this organic multiculturalism has played a disappointingly minor role in Ukraine’s nation-building efforts. […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 15, 2017

Arm Ukraine Now

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Alexander J. Motyl</span>

The case against providing lethal weapons to Ukraine has rested on a simple argument: If the United States provides arms to Kyiv, Moscow will escalate the war in eastern Ukraine. The Kremlin would up the ante with even more arms or intensify its military pressure on Ukraine. According to this logic, since escalation benefits no […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 9, 2017

What’s Behind the Flare-Up in Eastern Ukraine?

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Volodymyr Yermolenko and Tetyana Ogarkova</span>

On January 29, the fighting in Avdiivka, a town in eastern Ukraine within Ukrainian government-controlled territory, seriously escalated. The fighting began close to the demarcation line and six kilometers north of Donetsk (see map), and continued until at least February 3. According to official reports, thirteen Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 93 were wounded since […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 8, 2017

Six Outrageous Lies Russian Disinformation Peddled about Europe in 2016

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Jakub Janda and Ilyas Sharibzhanov</span>

Russian disinformation is working overtime to undermine European democracies. Much of the disinformation in 2016 came from original Russian sources that presented poorly digested information designed to provoke and to push an agenda that the Kremlin finds favorable. It aims to disconnect ordinary European citizens from supranational EU institutions and national politicians. With key elections in […]

Germany Northern Europe

UkraineAlert

Feb 8, 2017

Women Held Up Half the Sky to Defend Ukraine

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

In China, women are poetically referred to as “half the sky.” During the most dangerous hours of Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity, when tanks and water cannons and snipers were trained on protesters, roughly half of the Ukrainian activists were females of all ages. Now, the new film “Women of Maidan” beautifully portrays the critical role […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 8, 2017

Ukraine’s Next Big Gas Deadline Is Two Years Away: Will It Be Ready?

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Oksana Bedratenko</span>

The European gas market has become more integrated and more competitive since the 2009 gas crisis when Russia turned off the tap for nearly a week and Europe practically froze. Europe has increased the resilience of its gas system by building interconnections between pipelines, expanding its storage network, and diversifying gas supplies by creating infrastructure […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 6, 2017

Why Trump Will Soon Put Putin on Notice

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

On February 1, military tough guy Mike Flynn, President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor, put Iran “officially on notice” for testing a missile in violation of a UN resolution. By contrast, on January 31 the State Department issued a tepid statement condemning a murderous military assault on a Ukrainian town in the east without condemning […]

Russia Ukraine
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