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

Mar 25, 2022

Ukraine’s southern capital Odesa prepares to repel Russian invasion

By
Oleksiy Goncharenko

Vladimir Putin must take Odesa if he wishes to subjugate the whole of Ukraine but the predominantly Russian-speaking Black Sea port city is in defiant mood amid preparations to repel the Russian invaders.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Mar 23, 2022

Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine War can end in only two ways: Genocide or defeat

By
Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that he regards Ukrainians as Russians and does not recognize Ukraine's right to exist. Unless he is defeated, his Ukraine invasion may deteriorate into a genocide in the heart of Europe.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Mar 21, 2022

Vladimir Putin’s criminal war has killed the myth of Russian-Ukrainian unity

By
Alexander Khrebet

The Russian invasion of Ukraine was meant to secure Vladimir Putin’s place in history and reunify what Moscow views as the divided lands of historic Russia. Instead, it has killed the myth of Russian-Ukrainian unity.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Mar 21, 2022

Fear of provoking Putin is leading the Western world toward disaster

By
Ilya Timtchenko

Western policy toward Russia has long been shaped by fear of provoking Vladimir Putin but this caution has only served to encourage further acts of Russian aggression culminating in the current war in Ukraine.


Conflict


European Union


UkraineAlert

Mar 20, 2022

Bold Ukrainians defy Putin’s invasion and join European electricity grid

By
Aura Sabadus

Despite the existential challenges posed by Russia's full-scale invasion of the country, Ukraine has managed in recent weeks to complete the country's connection to the European electricity grid.


Conflict


Energy & Environment


UkraineAlert

Mar 19, 2022

Putin drank the Kremlin Kool-Aid

By
Taras Kuzio

Russian President Vladimir Putin drank the Kremlin Kool-Aid and seems to have sincerely believed his disastrous Ukraine war would be an imperial triumph with minimal costs on the domestic and international fronts.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Mar 18, 2022

Why Russia’s anti-war movement matters

By
Dylan Myles-Primakoff

While opinion polls consistently indicate strong Russian public support for Putin's Ukraine War, the country's anti-war movement also matters and may actually be larger than it at first appears.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Mar 17, 2022

Vladimir Putin’s war to crush Ukraine is part of a long Kremlin tradition

By
Kristina Hook

Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine has stunned the world with its criminal brutality but the Russian invasion is actually very much in line with a long tradition of Kremlin policies aimed at crushing Ukraine.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Mar 17, 2022

The EU needs Ukraine

By
Paul Grod

The European Union needs to embrace Ukraine's membership aspirations in order to demonstrate its own commitment to European values and its opposition to Vladimir Putin's authoritarian alternative.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Mar 16, 2022

Vladimir Putin has almost no chance of successfully occupying Ukraine

By
Ben Connable

Vladimir Putin is throwing Russia's full military might into the invasion of Ukraine but any attempt to occupy large parts of the country is almost certainly doomed to fail.


Conflict


Russia

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.

Follow us on social media
and support our work

Content

UkraineAlert

May 25, 2017

It’s Counterintuitive, but Arming Ukraine Will Actually Save US Taxpayers Money

By Stephen Blank

In April, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asked, “Why should US taxpayers be interested in Ukraine?” Now, the United States does not always provide assistance or help defend other victims of aggression, so the answer must go beyond the simple observation that Ukraine is the victim of premeditated aggression. I see five reasons why. First, […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 24, 2017

The Obvious Mistake We Make in Fighting Russian Disinformation

By Geysha Gonzalez

“The person who tells their story best, wins,” said Jed Willard of the FDR Center for Global Engagement at Harvard University in Prague on May 17, succinctly explaining the challenges of fighting disinformation. Willard and 330 other experts from twenty-nine countries gathered in Prague for a strategic communications summit (STRATCOM) hosted by European Values, a […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

May 24, 2017

Will Facebook Finally Fight Disinformation or Just Make Things Worse?

By Nina Jankowicz

For years, Facebook has quietly and very intentionally inserted itself into the daily lives of its users. It has succeeded wildly, becoming arguably the world’s most ubiquitous communication platform, with an average of 1.28 billion daily users. But now that it has become one of the world’s most popular sources of news, Facebook is failing […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

May 23, 2017

By Changing Alphabet, Kazakhs Take Another Step Toward the West

By Ariel Cohen

Kazakhstan has decided to switch alphabets, from Cyrillic to Latin script, by 2025. After decades of Russian and Soviet domination, countries are developing their own cultural code, though some feel uneasy about the change. Yet the Latin alphabet will only boost Kazakhstan’s international integration and its economic, technological, and scientific development. Plus, Latin script isn’t […]

Central Asia

UkraineAlert

May 23, 2017

The Reform Story Isn’t Over in Kyiv

By Ivan Mikloš

In the West, many people are ready to write off Ukraine. They wrongly believe that Ukraine’s reforms are stagnating, corruption is widespread, and the country is at war. But Ukraine’s reforms are definitely not done. To understand Ukraine’s promise, one must first grasp the country’s situation in 2014 when the reforms began. Two decades of […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 22, 2017

Why Are Russian Opposition Leaders Democrats at Home and Imperialists Abroad?

By Taras Kuzio

The US Congress has approved $100 million to counter “Russian influence and aggression” and support civil society organizations in Europe and Eurasia. According to the legislation, the funding will be used to “support democracy programs in the Russian Federation, including to promote internet freedom, and shall also be made available to support the democracy and […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 18, 2017

Something Is Very Wrong in Kyiv

By Josh Cohen

Ukraine Brags about Reforms and Harasses Activists Oleksandra Ustinova does not scare easily. Ustinova—Ustik to her friends—is a member of the board of the most outspoken watchdog in Kyiv and has led lobbying campaigns which successfully pushed through anticorruption reforms in Ukraine. She’s also a recognizable face with her straight blond hair and light blue […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 17, 2017

From Russia with Hate: The Kremlin’s Support for Violent Extremism in Central Europe

By Péter Krekó and Lóránt Győri

In 2016, the mayor of Ásotthalom, a small Hungarian town close to the country’s southern border, celebrated the opening of Gagarin Street with an obelisk to Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin and a speech about Russia’s greatness. The mayor was László Toroczkai, an extremist politician who serves as the vice president of the far-right Jobbik party; […]

Central Europe Hungary

UkraineAlert

May 17, 2017

Crimea’s Virtual Blackout Means Anything Goes

By Yuriy Lukanov

On Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, the Russian authorities are suppressing freedom of speech so that no one will really know what has happened there. Journalists in particular are under threat. The case of Ukrainian journalist Mykola Semena is one example of the situation in Crimea, which Russia has illegally occupied since 2014. His opinions were published […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 15, 2017

Why Ukraine’s Worst Enemy Is Not Vladimir Putin

By Peter Dickinson

Identifying Ukraine’s enemies has become a popular pastime. Unsurprisingly, Russia was the first one to be listed after the Kremlin dropped any pretense of Slavic fraternity and invaded the country. Corruption was next. Whereas Russia was the enemy at the gates, corruption was the enemy within. An eclectic collection of lesser enemies has since joined […]

Russia Ukraine