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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

Apr 3, 2024

Ukraine’s allies divided over drone campaign targeting Russian refineries

By
Giorgi Revishvili

Ukraine's expanding campaign of drone strikes on Russian refineries has inflicted significant damage on Putin’s oil and gas industry while also revealing divisions among Ukraine’s allies, writes Giorgi Revishvili.


Conflict


Drones


UkraineAlert

Apr 2, 2024

Putin is weaponizing corruption to weaken Europe from within

By
Francis Shin

Recent revelations regarding a Kremlin influence operation in the heart of the EU have highlighted Europe's continued vulnerability to Russian weaponized corruption, writes Francis Shin.


Conflict


Corruption


UkraineAlert

Mar 31, 2024

Russia’s new air offensive leaves Ukraine facing humanitarian disaster

By
Aura Sabadus

Unless Ukraine's Western partners urgently enhance the country's air defenses, Russia's new air offensive will leave millions of Ukrainians without access to electricity, water, and heating, writes Aura Sabadus.


Conflict


Geopolitics & Energy Security


UkraineAlert

Mar 31, 2024

Ukraine urgently needs air defenses as Russia decimates power grid

By
Suriya Evans-Pritchard Jayanti

A new Russian air offensive has destroyed much of Ukraine's civilian energy infrastructure in a matter of days and threatens to spark a humanitarian catastrophe if Ukraine does not urgently receive enhanced air defenses, writes Suriya Evans-Pritchard Jayanti.


Conflict


Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Mar 28, 2024

Putin has repeatedly used terror attacks to tighten his grip on Russia

By
Olivia Yanchik

The March 22 terror attack in Moscow has seriously damaged Putin’s carefully crafted public image as a strongman ruler who offers his subjects security in exchange for restrictions on their personal freedoms, writes Olivia Yanchik.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Mar 28, 2024

Putin adds Islamist terror to the list of absurd excuses for Ukraine invasion

By
Peter Dickinson

In addition to imaginary NATO threats and phantom fascists, Putin has now added Islamist terrorism to the expanding list of absurd excuses for the invasion of Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Mar 26, 2024

Is the US Congress finally poised to pass Ukraine aid?

By
Doug Klain

After almost eight months of deadlock, the US Congress may finally be moving toward a political solution that can unlock desperately needed US aid for Ukraine, writes Doug Klain.


Conflict


Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Mar 26, 2024

Ukraine paves way for green energy future amid Russia’s escalating attacks

By
Aura Sabadus

Ukraine has lifted restrictions on the export of biomethane in a move that could make the country one of Europe's biggest green energy suppliers, writes Aura Sabadus.


Energy Markets & Governance


Energy Transitions


UkraineAlert

Mar 25, 2024

The mood in wartime Ukraine: Weariness, resolve, and exasperation

By
Steven Pifer, John Herbst

Ukrainians are war-weary but remain resolved to continue the fight despite growing exasperation with the country's most important partner, the United States, write Steven Pifer and John Herbst.


Conflict


Drones


UkraineAlert

Mar 21, 2024

Russian victory in Ukraine would leave Europe at Putin’s mercy

By
Mykola Bielieskov

A Russian victory in Ukraine would reinvigorate Putin's war machine and leave much of Europe at the mercy of the Kremlin, writes Mykola Bielieskov.


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

Oct 17, 2016

Ukraine’s New Liberals Face Tough Climb from Streets to Seats in Parliament

By Melinda Haring

Ukraine now has a liberal European party, but can it become a nationwide party with real heft in parliament? On July 9, Euromaidan leaders joined forces with the Democratic Alliance party. The reinvigorated party is still preparing its program statement, but broadly it’s a liberal European party that supports free market ideas, strongly opposes corruption, […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 13, 2016

Will the West Ever Stand Up to Putin?

By Hanna Hopko

German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested that the Normandy Four—leaders from France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine—gather on October 19 to discuss the war in Ukraine. But this is premature. Nothing will come out of this meeting without a detailed roadmap for a real ceasefire and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s adherence to fully implement the Minsk agreements.

Russia Syria

UkraineAlert

Oct 13, 2016

Natalie Jaresko Says $25 Billion More Needed to Make Ukraine’s Reforms Irreversible

By Melinda Haring

Fatigue, Vested Interests, and Populism Threaten Ukraine’s “Longest and Most Successful” Reform Process “There’s no country in the world that has been in such dire circumstances and yet turned around the economy in such a short period of time,” said Natalie Jaresko, who served as Ukraine’s Finance Minister from December 2014 to April 2016. She […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 12, 2016

What Ukraine Can Learn from Romania’s Fight against Graft

By Michael Druckman

In 2015, Romania got serious about its corruption problem. DNA, its aggressive anticorruption body, indicted 1,250 public officials, including the sitting prime minister. Five other ministers, twenty-one members of parliament, and Bucharest mayor Sorin Oprescu were indicted. The agency ordered the seizure of nearly half a billion euros. Romania is now perceived as less corrupt. […]

Central Europe Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 11, 2016

The Other Victims of the War in Ukraine

By Laura A. Dean

Ukraine has long been a country associated with human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of women, but recent reports of human trafficking as a consequence of the war in eastern Ukraine have brought a new urgency to this ongoing crisis. News articles tell chilling stories about slave labor camps, children’s brothels, drug couriers, drug couriers, […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 10, 2016

How Ukraine Can Make Its Diplomacy Smarter

By Victoria Khaladzhy

Public diplomacy has been singled out as a far-reaching mechanism for promoting Ukraine’s interests in the world. Diplomats have taken first steps in utilizing instruments from the country’s existing foreign policy tools. These include increasing person-to-person engagement, promoting economic interactions, intensifying exchange programs, and upgrading cultural centers abroad. Like other governments, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 10, 2016

Washington’s Patience with Kyiv Runs Thin

By Sergii Leshchenko

Last week my colleagues Mustafa Nayyem, Svitlana Zalishchuk, and I had dozens of meetings in the United States. Our impression was disappointing. Since the resignation of Arseniy Yatsenyuk (Washington’s favorite Ukrainian politician), reports of further corruption, and the lack of progress in resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the United States has grown weary of […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 5, 2016

Berlin or Bust: Germany Key to Maintaining Sanctions on Russia

By Oksana Bedratenko

When Russia illegally annexed Crimea and armed separatists in eastern Ukraine, the United States and the European Union jointly condemned it. Together they introduced sanctions on Russia in July 2014 that limited access to finance for key companies in Russia’s energy, defense, and financial sectors; froze assets and banned travel for officials directly involved in […]

Germany Russia

UkraineAlert

Oct 5, 2016

Q&A: Is Ukraine Still Changing?

By Melinda Haring

Three Atlantic Council experts answer questions about Ukraine’s ongoing reforms. 1. It’s been nearly three years since the Euromaidan protests began. How would you grade the pace and extent of Ukraine’s reforms? Anders Åslund, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council: In 2014, Ukraine carried out two vital preconditions for economic reform, early presidential and parliamentary […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 4, 2016

Stop Mistaking Russia for Europe

By Andrew Kornbluth

Like a coin inserted into a broken candy machine, the most recent attempt by the United States to broker a ceasefire with the Russians in Syria has vanished with nothing to show for it. Instead, in a calculated gesture of contempt, Russian and Syrian government forces annihilated a humanitarian convoy before beginning an unprecedented round-the-clock […]

Russia Syria