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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

May 23, 2023

China, Iran, Belarus, and Armenia all fear a Russian defeat in Ukraine

By
Taras Kuzio

China, Iran, Belarus, and Armenia all have different motivations for backing the Kremlin, but they are united by a common fear of what a Russian defeat in Ukraine might mean for their own countries, writes Taras Kuzio.


Belarus


China


UkraineAlert

May 18, 2023

Ukraine’s European integration is the key to a sustainable peace

By
Stephen Nix, Zachary Popovich

Ukraine's full integration into the institutions of the Western world is the only way to end the threat of ongoing Russian aggression and secure a sustainable peace in Europe, write Stephen Nix and Zachary Popovich.


Conflict


European Union


UkraineAlert

May 18, 2023

Ukraine’s growing defense tech prowess can help defeat Russia

By
Mykhailo Fedorov

While Russia relies on the brute force of artillery bombardments and human wave tactics, Ukraine is waging an innovative form of warfare that utilizes a range of highly creative tech solutions, writes Mykhailo Fedorov.


Conflict


Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

May 18, 2023

New Bernard Henri-Lévy documentary challenges Ukraine fatigue

By
Melinda Haring, Jacob Heilbrunn

For anyone seeking to make sense of Russia’s war in Ukraine, viewing French public intellectual Bernard Henri-Lévy’s new feature-length documentary “Slava Ukraini” (“Glory to Ukraine”) isn’t an option. It’s a must.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

May 15, 2023

Wagner chief’s rants highlight Russian infighting ahead of Ukraine offensive

By
Olivia Yanchik

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin's public rants against Russia’s military leadership point to mounting infighting within Putin’s invading army as it prepares to face a potentially decisive Ukrainian offensive, writes Olivia Yanchik.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

May 12, 2023

Andriy Yermak: Italy is defending common European values in Ukraine

By
Andriy Yermak

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is right to say that helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian invasion is about freedom, justice, and common values, writes the head of Ukraine's Office of the President, Andriy Yermak.


Conflict


Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

May 11, 2023

Britain becomes first country to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles

By
Peter Dickinson

Britain has confirmed it is providing Ukraine with long-range missiles. The decision is a major milestone in international efforts to support the Ukrainian fight back against Russia’s ongoing invasion, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict


Freedom and Prosperity


UkraineAlert

May 11, 2023

Greater clarity is needed in US policy toward Ukraine

By
Michael F. Oppenheimer

The US has been instrumental in rallying international support for Ukraine, but the Biden administration still needs to clarify whether it views the Russian invasion as a pivotal moment in world politics, writes Michael F. Oppenheimer.


Conflict


Freedom and Prosperity


UkraineAlert

May 11, 2023

Deciphering Vladimir Putin’s unspoken Victory Day message

By
Alexander Motyl

Putin's unspoken Victory Day message: The seating arrangements at this week’s parade indicate that despite the military setbacks of the past 15 months, the Russian dictator is doubling down on his goal of subjugating Ukraine.


Conflict


Freedom and Prosperity


UkraineAlert

May 9, 2023

Putin’s embarrassing one-tank parade hints at catastrophic losses in Ukraine

By
Peter Dickinson

Putin has transformed Victory Day into a celebration of Russia's resurgence as a military superpower, but this year's embarrassing one-tank parade underlined the catastrophic scale of Russian losses in Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict


Defense Industry

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

Mar 8, 2017

Ukraine’s Got Less Than a Month to Clean Up Highest Court

By Halya Coynash

By the end of Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency in February 2014, virtually all vestiges of judicial independence had been eroded in Ukraine, together with any public confidence in the justice system. Three years later, only a small number of the most corrupt judges have lost their posts. It is rightly difficult to dismiss judges, but it […]

Europe & Eurasia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 7, 2017

Ukraine’s Rails, Roads, and Ports Throttle Economic Recovery

By Oksana Bedratenko

Ukraine’s favorable location gives the country immense potential as a regional transit hub. The country’s infrastructure, however, is in such a bad shape that it is not only unable to service international traffic, but has difficulties meeting the economy’s everyday needs. Following two years of GDP decline, Ukraine finally demonstrated signs of economic recovery in […]

Europe & Eurasia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 2, 2017

Ukraine Is Sliding Back, Sergii Leshchenko Warns

By Melinda Haring

Anticorruption reform in Ukraine appeared far more promising just a year ago, said Sergii Leshchenko in a March 1 telephone interview from Kyiv. “We are sliding back,” he said definitively. The thirty-six-year old member of parliament, a former deputy editor at Ukrayinska Pravda and one of President Petro Poroshenko’s most outspoken critics, wants the West to […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 2, 2017

Why Ukraine Needs Another Court System Now

By Josh Cohen

Since the Euromaidan, Ukraine has achieved some notable anticorruption successes. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), established in 2015 to target high level crimes committed by Ukraine’s corrupt political class, has demonstrated a high level of independence and has not hesitated to target the senior officials, judges, and state enterprise managers who previously possessed de facto […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 1, 2017

Not the Right Way to Bring Yanukovych to Trial

By Halya Coynash

The Kremlin is well known for pulling former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych out of hiding for its own purposes. Now Ukraine’s leaders have been accused of using Yanukovych as an excuse to push legislation that may have dangerous repercussions for Ukraine’s justice system—while not necessarily bringing Yanukovych and his cronies any closer to justice. Yury […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 28, 2017

Putin Learns the Hard Way that Crimean Crime Does Not Pay

By Peter Dickinson

Ever since the stunning Russian takeover of Crimea in early 2014, it has become popular to regard Russian President Vladimir Putin as some kind of geopolitical genius. The international media regularly depicts him as a James Bond-style supervillain, always a few steps ahead of his hapless Western opponents as he determines the fate of the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 27, 2017

Trump and Putin: The Shortest Honeymoon Ever Is Over

By Ariel Cohen

As Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster takes over President Donald Trump’s National Security Council, conducting a bottom-up review and developing a Russia policy at the NSC, Pentagon, and State Department should be a top priority for the administration. Russia has resumed a quasi-Cold War posture. In the last few weeks, Russia escalated fighting in the occupied […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 27, 2017

What Pence Should Have Said: Russia, Not Terrorism, Is the Most Urgent Security Threat

By Stephen Blank

Whatever else occurred at the annual Munich Security Conference on February 17-19, reassurances were not part of it. None of the statements made by high-ranking American officials allayed European fears about President Donald Trump’s administration because, simultaneously, the White House was busy undermining them. Moreover, Vice President Mike Pence’s “unwavering” support of NATO was balanced […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 23, 2017

The West Needs to Call Russia’s Bluff in the Balkans

By Dimitar Bechev

For all the uncertainties about the Balkans, one thing stays the same. Every few years, the headline “We Are Heading for War Again” crops up in the Western media. The last time this happened, the 2014 centennial of the First World War inspired pundits to ask whether the world is on the cusp of another […]

Russia The Balkans

UkraineAlert

Feb 21, 2017

Ukraine’s Bitter Struggle: The Prequel

By Diane Francis

Ukraine is a nation interrupted, its identity and promise stolen by predators for centuries. The predation continues today as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s creeping invasion of Ukraine grinds on, resulting in the murder of 10,000 Ukrainians, destruction of two major cities and its industrial base, seizure of nine percent of its land, and flight of […]

Russia Ukraine