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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

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.

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Content

UkraineAlert

Aug 29, 2016

Three Mythologies of European Security

By Stephen Blank

Samuel Johnson famously told his biographer James Boswell, “Clear your mind of cant.” In thinking about European security, we should do so, too.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 26, 2016

How One University Defied Putin and His Armed Mob

By Melinda Haring

On July 7, 2014, Russian-backed separatists entered Donetsk and occupied four dormitories at Donetsk National University; armed gunmen expelled students from their rooms in the middle of the night. Nine days later, the separatists seized the entire university. During that summer, separatists stole at least seventeen university vehicles and converted student dorms into barracks for […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 25, 2016

Ukraine: Forwards or Backwards? A Response to Thomas Theiner and James Brooke

By Martin Nunn

When driving a car, it is essential to look forward to assess changing road conditions, new obstacles, and new opportunities. Prudent drivers—and investors—regularly check the rear view mirrors, but their main focus is on the future.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 25, 2016

Does Ukraine Need an Anti-Corruption Court?

By Thomas Firestone

The recent scandal surrounding alleged payments made to Paul Manafort by the former Ukrainian government has again cast a spotlight on corruption in Ukraine. Whatever one thinks of the Manafort story, no one can dispute that Ukrainians are entitled to an honest government that does not steal from them. But how can Ukraine achieve this […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 23, 2016

Russia is Surrounding Ukraine, but Where’s the West?

By Aaron Korewa

In recent weeks, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been doing what he is best at: war mongering. It began with the Kremlin’s accusation that Ukrainian leaders had “chosen terror over peace,” despite the fact Russia has not been able to produce any credible evidence of the alleged “sabotage plot” in Crimea. Additionally, neither the OSCE’s […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 19, 2016

The West Has a Ukraine Challenge, and It’s Not Going Away

By Ariel Cohen

Since the Middle Ages, Kyivan Rus—the loose network of warring principalities whose borders vaguely coincide with today’s Ukraine—has been exposed to waves of invaders from neighboring states. This list of aggressors includes the Normans, Mongols, Poles, Ottomans, Habsburg Austrians, Germans, and Nazis—and not least, Muscovite Russians, the Romanov Russian Empire, and Bolsheviks. Each invasion destroyed […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 15, 2016

Why Putin Turns the Heat Up on Ukraine Now

By James J. Coyle

Russian President Vladimir Putin may be preparing a new offensive in Ukraine. Russia has prepared an excuse for a military incursion to connect Crimea with rebel-held areas of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. Fighting along the corridor has already heated up; the Ukrainian military reports that on the night of August 8 more than 200 […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 15, 2016

Why Peace Is Impossible with Putin

By Alexander J. Motyl

Peace in Europe is impossible as long as Vladimir Putin remains Russia’s leader. As both the biggest obstacle to peace and the key source of potential war, Putin has become the main threat to Russia’s neighbors and the West. But what, exactly, motivates him? Analysts are divided over the reasons for Putin’s foreign policy moves. […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 13, 2016

How Russian Propaganda Portrays European Leaders

By František Vrabel, Jakub Janda, and Veronika Víchová

Russia’s efforts to spread disinformation in other countries as part of a hybrid war against the West sometimes make us forget that the media networks inside Russia also greatly matter. Even though Russia’s domestic media targets the Russian-speaking population, its narratives and portrayals of the international scene can tell us a lot about Russia’s foreign […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 10, 2016

Is Putin Preparing a New Attack on Ukraine?

By Anders Åslund

Observers have greatly feared that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin would start a small regional war this August. Russia has moved up its State Duma elections to September 18. Although only Putin’s parties are allowed to win, he has a predilection for “small and victorious wars” to mobilize his people. In 1999, the second war in […]

Russia Ukraine