UkraineAlert

UkraineAlert is a comprehensive online publication that provides regular news and analysis on developments in Ukraine’s politics, economy, civil society, and culture. UkraineAlert sources analysis and commentary from a wide-array of thought-leaders, politicians, experts, and activists from Ukraine and the global community. UkraineAlert has become a major publication in Ukraine’s news landscape and has established itself not only through its quality of content but also significant partnerships with English, Ukrainian, and Russian-language media through the country.

Stay Updated

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

Apr 28, 2023

Placing Russian nukes in Belarus could destabilize Putin’s last ally

By
Olivia Yanchik

Vladimir Putin's decision to place nuclear weapons in Belarus will strengthen Russia's grip on the country but could also spark a new wave of opposition to Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka, writes Olivia Yanchik.


Belarus


Civil Society


UkraineAlert

Apr 27, 2023

Iranian and Syrian factors shape Israeli response to Russia’s Ukraine invasion

By
Joseph Roche

Israel has sought to minimize its involvement in the international response to Vladimir Putin's Ukraine invasion, but deepening military cooperation between Russia and Iran may force a change in the Israeli position.


Conflict


Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Apr 26, 2023

Xi calls Zelenskyy but doubts remain over China’s peacemaker credentials

By
Peter Dickinson

China’s Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke for over an hour by phone on April 26 in what was the first conversation between the two leaders since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began more than fourteen months ago.


China


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Apr 25, 2023

Putin’s dreams of a new Russian Empire are unraveling in Ukraine

By
Mark Temnycky

Putin saw the invasion of Ukraine as a key step toward rebuilding the Russian Empire. Instead, it has forced countries across the former Soviet Union to distance themselves from the Kremlin, writes Mark Temnycky.


Central Asia


Civil Society


UkraineAlert

Apr 25, 2023

Russia’s invasion highlights the need to invest more in Ukrainian studies

By
Oleksandra Gaidai

The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the need for greater international investment into Ukrainian studies but has also created huge challenges for Ukrainian academia, writes Oleksandra Gaidai.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Apr 20, 2023

There can be no lasting peace with Russia until Ukraine liberates Crimea

By
Mariia Zolkina

Some skeptics question the feasibility and wisdom of a military campaign to de-occupy Crimea, but no lasting peace with Putin's Russia will be possible until the Ukrainian peninsula is liberated, argues Mariia Zolkina.


Conflict


Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Apr 20, 2023

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is also being fought in cyberspace

By
Vera Mironova

While the war in Ukraine often resembles the trench warfare of the twentieth century, the battle for cyber dominance is highly innovative and offers insights into the future of international aggression, writes Vera Mironova.


Conflict


Cybersecurity


UkraineAlert

Apr 18, 2023

Russia’s Ukraine invasion is the latest stage in the unfinished Soviet collapse

By
Richard Cashman

Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine is best understood as the latest stage in the unfinished collapse of the Soviet Union and as part of Russia's historic retreat from empire, argues Richard Cashman.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Apr 18, 2023

Vladimir Kara-Murza’s 25-year sentence is a verdict against all Russians

By
Arseniy Yatsenyuk

Vladimir Kara-Murza's 25-year prison sentence for speaking the truth about the invasion of Ukraine is a major milestone in modern Russia's descent into Stalinism, says former Ukrainian PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Apr 14, 2023

Ukrainian victory “could help ensure Europe’s future energy security”

By
Diane Francis

Ukraine has massive potential to increase domestic energy production and could eventually replace Russian energy exports to the European Union in the post-war era, says Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov.


Conflict


European Union

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.

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 15, 2017

Arm Ukraine Now

By Alexander J. Motyl

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 Volodymyr Yermolenko and Tetyana Ogarkova

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 Jakub Janda and Ilyas Sharibzhanov

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 Diane Francis

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 Oksana Bedratenko

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 Diane Francis

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

UkraineAlert

Feb 6, 2017

Changes in Washington, Brussels, and Berlin: What Do They Mean for Kyiv?

By Andreas Umland

As US President Donald Trump introduces a new leadership style, political and economic crises play out in the EU, and tensions in Russia’s foreign and domestic affairs increase, the effects will be astutely felt in Ukraine—a country that has become a key battleground state in the confrontation between the world’s pro- and anti-Western forces. The […]

European Union Germany

UkraineAlert

Feb 6, 2017

The End of the Rose for Saakashvili

By Luis Navarro

Dynamic, revolutionary, modernizer, narcissist, opportunist: all of these are terms that have been used to describe Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia and would-be Ukrainian leader. Over the course of a storied political career, all have been true to varying degrees. But what is true now is that Saakashvili has exceeded his expiration date […]

The Caucasus Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 2, 2017

Why Trump Cannot Ignore Ukraine

By Adrian Karatnycky

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s telephone conversation on January 28 occurred amid widespread speculation that Trump would lift sanctions on Russia. While no such announcements were even hinted at, the contours of the emerging US-Russia dialogue will have momentous consequences for European security and for Ukraine. The official White House readout […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2017

Four Easy Ways the EU Can Support Ukraine

By Josh Cohen

Europe’s leadership seems to realize the challenge US President Donald Trump poses to the transatlantic alliance: German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently reminded Europe that “our fate is in our own hands,” while Guy Verhofstadt, president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, argues, “Europe must take its destiny and security in its own […]

European Union Germany