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

Feb 9, 2023

Vladimir Putin must not be allowed to bankrupt the Ukrainian breadbasket

By
Andriy Vadaturskyy

Ukraine's strategically crucial agricultural sector has been hard hit by the full-scale Russian invasion of the country and desperately needs international support in order to survive in wartime conditions, writes Andriy Vadaturskyy.


Conflict


Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Feb 9, 2023

Countering Russian threats to global financial security

By
Benton Coblentz

Russia and its proxies have long exploited the rules-based global financial system for their personal gain and in service of Moscow’s geopolitical strategy, but the invasion of Ukraine has sparked calls for counter measures.


Conflict


Corruption


UkraineAlert

Feb 7, 2023

The Belarusian opposition can help defeat Putin in Ukraine

By
Stephen Nix, Mark Dietzen

Belarus has played a key supporting role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine but the democratic Belarusian opposition recognizes that defeating Putin can lead to the downfall of their own dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka.


Belarus


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Feb 6, 2023

Hero Ukrainian medic: “Russia will not stop until it is stopped”

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukrainian military medic Yulia Paievska has a simple message for anyone who still believes in the possibility of a compromise peace with Putin’s Russia. “They will not stop until they are stopped,” she says.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Feb 6, 2023

Ukrainians are united in rejection of any compromise with the Kremlin

By
Mariia Zolkina

As Russia's invasion of Ukraine approaches the one-year mark, an overwhelming majority of Ukrainians have faith in their country's victory and reject the idea of a compromise peace with the Kremlin, writes Mariia Zolkina.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Feb 2, 2023

Russian presence at Paris Olympics risks normalizing Ukraine invasion

By
Mark Temnycky

The International Olympic Committee's decision to allow Russian athletes to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics under a neutral flag has sparked outrage from critics who say it risks normalizing the genocidal invasion of Ukraine.


Conflict


France


UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2023

Ukrainian SMEs hold the key to the country’s economic revival

By
Seba Salim, Sarah Page

There is still no end in sight to the Russian invasion of Ukraine but the international community must not delay efforts to revive Ukraine's economy by supporting the country's vibrant SME sector.


Conflict


Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2023

Europe’s last empire: Putin’s Ukraine war exposes Russia’s imperial identity

By
Botakoz Kassymbekova

Vladimir Putin's genocidal invasion of Ukraine has exposed modern Russia's unapologetically imperial identity but could yet lead to the collapse of the Kremlin's broader imperial ambitions, writes Botakoz Kassymbekova.


Belarus


Central Asia


UkraineAlert

Jan 31, 2023

Russia’s cyberwar against Ukraine offers vital lessons for the West

By
Yurii Shchyhol

Ukraine’s experience in countering Russian cyber warfare can provide valuable lessons while offering a glimpse into a future where wars will be waged both by conventional means and increasingly in the borderless realm of cyberspace.


Conflict


Cybersecurity


UkraineAlert

Jan 28, 2023

Poland is leading Europe’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine

By
Diane Francis

Poland was the unsung hero of the recent landmark decision by Berlin and Washington to provide Ukraine with tanks as Polish leadership continues to shape the European response to Russia's genocidal invasion.


Conflict


Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion

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

Apr 17, 2017

Meet Ulana Suprun: Ukraine’s Top Doctor Takes on Tax Chief and Corrupt System

By Diane Francis

In March, Ukraine’s reformers applauded when the National Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested Roman Nasirov, the country’s chief tax and customs official, on embezzlement charges. But he claimed he was having a heart attack, called an ambulance, and was diagnosed as too ill to be taken to court. Such tricks might have worked before, but this time […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 17, 2017

Why Investors Are Giving Ukraine a Second Chance

By Daniel Bilak

Ukraine today is open and transparent, but foreign investors are often taken aback by its challenges. While corruption and property rights are issues, any objective assessment must recognize the monumental strides the country has taken on these issues. After three years of reforms, society is fatigued, and the mood is pessimistic. The current media narrative—that […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 17, 2017

New Poll Shows Ukrainians Hungry for Change

By Oksana Bedratenko and Katie LaRoque

A new poll shows that Ukrainians are hungry for change and finally seeing it at the local level. On April 10, the International Republican Institute (IRI) released its annual municipal survey, tracking the views of more than 19,000 Ukrainians in twenty-four cities. Three years since IRI’s first survey, residents in fifteen of the twenty-four cities […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 12, 2017

Secretary Tillerson, Here’s Why Taxpayers Should Care about Ukraine

By Melinda Haring

At the Group of Seven meeting in Lucca, Italy, on April 11, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asked the other foreign ministers, “Why should US taxpayers be interested in Ukraine?” US Senator Rob Portman and several other panelists answered that question at an April 5 conference on Ukraine in Washington, DC, sponsored by the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 11, 2017

Is Belarus coming unglued too?

By Francišak Viačorka

The Russian crackdown showed that the country’s internal problems are getting sharper, and the Kremlin will likely not have enough resources to continue its financial support of Lukashenka’s regime.

Belarus Russia

UkraineAlert

Apr 11, 2017

Why Does the IMF Keep Funding Ukraine?

By Anders Åslund

When the International Monetary Fund’s board convened on April 3, it found that the Ukrainian government had fulfilled only five out of fourteen structural reform conditions it had outlined. Nevertheless, Ukraine received a $1 billion installment of its $17.5 billion financial support for the government’s reform program. Was it pure politics that Ukraine got a […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 10, 2017

Why Did Putin Get Stuck in Eastern Ukraine?

By Peter Dickinson

Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine is now entering its fourth year, but there was a time when few expected it to last even four weeks. The virtually bloodless seizure of Crimea, which fell to Russian troops in early 2014 without a fight, led most observers to conclude that Ukraine was effectively defenseless and at Moscow’s […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 10, 2017

Is Russia Winning in Serbia? Maybe, But Not for the Reasons You Think

By Dimitar Bechev

One year ago, in April 2016 when Serbia held snap polls, the BBC ran the headline “Pro-EU Prime Minister Vučić Claims Victory.” One year later, after Aleksandar Vučić’s resounding win in the presidential election on April 2, the international media has styled him “Putin’s Serb ally.” Who’s right and where is Serbian foreign policy heading? […]

European Union International Organizations

UkraineAlert

Apr 10, 2017

From Trench Coats to Tuxedos: How the Kremlin Deploys its Dirty Tricks Today

By Diane Francis

The same dirty tricks deployed by the KGB for decades are used in today’s Cold War 2.0, and have permeated geopolitics from Syria to Ukraine and the world’s capitals. But spies in trench coats been supplanted by Russians in tuxedos with huge bank accounts who use financial, social, and political weaponry to build tentacles that […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 5, 2017

The Coming Crackdown on Ukraine’s Anticorruption Crusaders

By Daria Kaleniuk

President Petro Poroshenko’s new restrictions on anticorruption groups are appalling and threaten to reverse much of the progress Ukraine has made since the Euromaidan. Some analysts who defend the new law have got the details all wrong. Others have sounded the alarm, but the fine points of the regulations remain murky. On March 27, Poroshenko […]

Ukraine