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 19, 2023

Putin the Pariah: War crimes arrest warrant deepens Russia’s isolation

By
Anders Åslund

The ICC decision to indict Putin for war crimes is a highly consequential step that will deepen Russia’s international isolation while weakening Putin’s personal position both at home and abroad, writes Anders Åslund.


Conflict


Human Rights


UkraineAlert

Mar 19, 2023

ICC arrest warrant for Putin is a step toward ending Russian impunity

By
Danielle Johnson

The International Criminal Court decision to issue an arrest warrant for Putin over his alleged role in the deportation of Ukrainian children has sparked a lively debate. Is the move truly historic or merely symbolic?


Conflict


Human Rights


UkraineAlert

Mar 16, 2023

Poland defies Putin with landmark decision to give Ukraine fighter jets

By
Peter Dickinson

Poland is set to become the first Western nation to supply Ukraine with fighter jets, Polish President Andrzej Duda has confirmed. Duda said Ukraine would receive four Polish Soviet-era MiG-29 jets “in the next few days.”


Conflict


Missile Defense


UkraineAlert

Mar 15, 2023

Taiwan supports Ukraine and studies country’s response to Russian invasion

By
Kira Rudik

Taiwan has emerged over the past year as one of Ukraine's strongest supporters in Asia with many Taiwanese viewing the Ukrainian wartime experience as a model for their own potential confrontation with China.


China


Civil Society


UkraineAlert

Mar 14, 2023

Ukraine must do more to counter Russian narratives in the Global South

By
Mitchell Polman

While Ukraine enjoys overwhelming support from the West, the Global South remains reluctant to oppose or even criticize Russia's ongoing invasion. Ukraine must do more to influence opinion in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.


Africa


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Mar 14, 2023

Putin failed to freeze Europe but Russia’s energy war will continue

By
Aura Sabadus

Vladimir Putin's plan to freeze Europe into submission during the winter season failed but there is no room for complacency as Russia still sees gas and oil exports as key weapons in its campaign to isolate and destroy Ukraine.


China


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Mar 9, 2023

Will morale prove the decisive factor in the Russian invasion of Ukraine?

By
Peter Dickinson

Putin is preparing for a long war in Ukraine and still believes he can outlast the West, but mounting signs of demoralization among mobilized Russian soldiers may pose a serious threat to the success of his invasion, writes Peter Dickinson.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Mar 9, 2023

Calls to appease Putin in Ukraine ignore the lessons of history

By
Arman Mahmoudian

While the desire for peace in Ukraine is perfectly understandable, mounting calls to appease Putin by handing him a partial victory ignore the lessons of history and would almost certainly lead to more war.


Belarus


Central Asia


UkraineAlert

Mar 8, 2023

Ukrainians will never surrender. How long can they count on the West?

By
Serhiy Prytula

Ukraine's remarkable resistance during the first days of the Russian invasion convinced the democratic world to back the country but with Putin now preparing for a long war, continued Western resolve is vital writes Serhiy Prytula.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Mar 6, 2023

How Putin’s fear of democracy convinced him to invade Ukraine

By
Michael John Williams

Putin's decision to launch the full-scale invasion of Ukraine was rooted in his longstanding fear that the emergence of a democratic Ukraine could serve as a catalyst for the collapse of his own autocratic regime.


Civil Society


Conflict

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

Oct 19, 2016

Why Ukraine’s New Ultranationalist Party Will Not Last

By Alina Polyakova

On October 14, the Azov Battalion—Ukraine’s controversial ultranationalist paramilitary group that has been fighting in the Donbas as part of the National Guard—entered the political fray. Registered as a political party under the name National Corps, the new party proposes an ambitious military and nationalist agenda, including a re-nationalization of Ukraine’s private sector and nuclear […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2016

Ukraine’s Invisible Refugees

By Diane Francis

Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan are not the world’s only major “refugee” hosting nations. Ukraine too hosts enormous numbers of people who have had to leave their homes because of war. Millions fled their homes in 2014 after Russian operatives and tanks invaded Ukraine’s eastern regions and annexed Crimea. But they are not labeled “refugees.” Instead, […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 18, 2016

Europe Funds Russian Aggression in Ukraine, Syria, and Beyond

By Mykhailo Gonchar and Hanna Hopko

Three-Fourths of Russian Oil Sold to Europe On October 20, the Council of the European Union will consider its strategy toward the Russian Federation. Following the resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Europe faces a genuine challenge: to recognize Russian aggression against Ukraine for what it is, and to provide truly […]

European Union Germany

UkraineAlert

Oct 18, 2016

Ukraine Scores Diplomatic Breakthrough

By Vera Zimmerman

“Security First, Elections Next,” the West Concedes After long resisting Western pressure to implement the political points in the Minsk agreements, Ukraine scored a diplomatic victory last week when the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) passed two important resolutions. The first resolution officially defines the conflict in Ukraine as Russian aggression, countering […]

Ukraine

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