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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 7, 2024

Vladimir Putin is losing Russia’s long war against Ukrainian identity

By
Danylo Lubkivsky

Vladimir Putin is the latest in a long line of Russian rulers who have attempted to erase Ukrainian national identity and force Ukrainians to identify as Russians, writes Danylo Lubkivsky.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Mar 5, 2024

Putin is on an historic mission and will not stop until he is finally defeated

By
Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin believes he is on an historic mission to reclaim “Russian lands” and will inevitably go further if he is not stopped in Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Mar 4, 2024

“Ukraine is Russia”: Medvedev reveals imperial ambitions fueling invasion

By
Taras Kuzio

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has underlined the imperialism fueling the invasion of Ukraine by rejecting Ukrainian statehood and declaring “Ukraine is definitely Russia,” writes Taras Kuzio.

Conflict
Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Mar 2, 2024

Ukraine needs enhanced air defenses as Russia expands missile arsenal

By
Olivia Yanchik

With Russia now reportedly receiving missiles from both Iran and North Korea, it is time for Ukraine’s partners to step up their own deliveries of air defense systems, writes Olivia Yanchik.

Conflict
Drones


UkraineAlert

Feb 29, 2024

Bowing to Putin’s nuclear blackmail will make nuclear war more likely

By
Peter Dickinson

By allowing themselves to be intimidated by Putin’s nuclear threats, Western leaders risk plunging the world into a dark new era of insecurity and aggression, writes Peter Dickinson.

Arms Control
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Feb 29, 2024

Gulf region markets offer huge growth potential for Ukraine’s IT sector

By
Anatoly Motkin

The Gulf region offers opportunities for Ukraine’s war-ravaged but vibrant tech sector to reduce its dependence on Western markets and return to growth, writes Anatoly Motkin.

Artificial Intelligence
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Feb 27, 2024

No opposition candidates allowed in Belarus dictator’s “sham” elections

By
Hanna Liubakova

Sunday’s parliamentary and local elections in Belarus were among the most flawed in the thirty-year reign of the country’s authoritarian ruler, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, writes Hanna Liubakova.

Belarus
Civil Society


UkraineAlert

Feb 23, 2024

Making Russia pay for the invasion of Ukraine

By
Paul Grod

Using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s resistance and recovery is morally justified and would also ease the financial burden on Western economies, writes Paul Grod.

Conflict
Economic Sanctions


UkraineAlert

Feb 22, 2024

Ukrainian long-range drones target Putin’s war machine inside Russia

By
Victoria Vdovychenko, Alexander Khara

Ukraine is hoping a new campaign of long-range drone strikes against Russia’s strategically vital oil and gas industry can help weaken Putin’s war machine, write Victoria Vdovychenko and Alexander Khara.

Conflict
Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Feb 22, 2024

Putin’s unpunished Crimean crime set the stage for Russia’s 2022 invasion

By
Mercedes Sapuppo

The West’s inadequate response to Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea was a major blunder that emboldened Putin and set the stage for the biggest European invasion since World War II, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

Conflict
Disinformation

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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 23, 2016

Memo to Secretary Kerry: Russia Is Weaker Than You Think

By Ariel Cohen

When US Secretary of State John Kerry goes to Moscow this week, he should keep in mind that Russia’s recent military engagements in Ukraine and Syria represent an attempt to manipulate perceptions. The Kremlin wants to position itself as a peer of America, open to cooperation against ISIS, but capable of military threats against US […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 22, 2016

Russian Court Finds Ukraine’s Defiant Pilot Savchenko Guilty

By Irena Chalupa

Nothing in the Nadiya Savchenko case has been easy or fast. The famed Ukrainian pilot whom Russia has charged with complicity in the deaths of two Russian journalists can’t even get a quick verdict at the end of a trial that has lasted nine months. On March 22, the court found Savchenko guilty of all […]

Europe & Eurasia Russia

UkraineAlert

Mar 22, 2016

Don’t Mess With Kyiv’s Activists

By Josh Cohen

Ukrainians may soon be granted visa-free travel within the European Union, thanks to Kyiv’s watchful activists. But that status was in jeopardy after parliament weakened a key anti-corruption law on February 16. Visa-free travel was linked to a series of reforms, including a law that discloses the income of Ukrainian officials.

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 22, 2016

Can Minsk Deliver a Sustainable Peace?

By Melinda Haring

Is the Minsk process salvageable? Twelve experts gathered at the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC, on March 17 to debate whether the Minsk ceasefire can deliver a sustainable peace in Ukraine. The war in Ukraine has claimed over 10,000 lives and displaced more than 1.6 million people. The Minsk accords, signed in 2014 and 2015, […]

Europe & Eurasia Russia

UkraineAlert

Mar 18, 2016

Fighting Back: New Bill Aims to Counter Russian Disinformation

By Amanda Abrams

Russia’s attempts to win over hearts and minds in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, and beyond are succeeding—in large part because of the United States’ disengagement in the information arena, say experts. In response, Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) introduced a bill on March 16 that would significantly beef up the United States’ counter-propaganda […]

Europe & Eurasia Russia

UkraineAlert

Mar 17, 2016

Why the Kremlin Fears Savchenko

By Aaron Korewa

When Timothy Snyder, professor of central European history at Yale and vocal supporter of the Euromaidan movement, was asked why he has chosen to become such a strong defender of Ukraine, his response was “I don’t like when there is too much lying.” That is an excellent reason. Judging by Nadiya Savchenko’s gesture to the […]

Europe & Eurasia Russia

UkraineAlert

Mar 17, 2016

Yes, Putin Really Believes His Own Propaganda

By Ben Nimmo

Russia’s worldview is conditioned by a conspiracy theory: the United States is out to get her. The trouble with this delusion is that Russia’s actions and policy decisions appear to be built on it. To understand and predict Russia’s behavior, Western policymakers need to grasp the fact that this delusion is real for Russia’s leadership.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 16, 2016

Putin’s Crimea Is No Vacation

By Melinda Haring and Alina Polyakova

Two years ago on March 16, Crimeans voted in a sham referendum for Russia to annex Crimea. Has life improved for the approximately two million people who live there?  Not at all. On every measure, from the economy to its treatment of minorities, the beautiful peninsula has become a shell of what it once was. […]

Russia Ukraine

Testimony

Mar 15, 2016

Six Ways the US Can Defeat Putin and Bolster Ukraine

By Ian Brzezinski

The transatlantic community has a significant stake in assuring Ukraine’s trajectory as a modern, democratic, and prosperous European state. A strategy to assist Ukraine in accomplishing that objective must impose greater economic and geopolitical costs on Russia for its aggression, enhance Ukraine’s capacity for self-defense, assist Kyiv’s efforts to reform its political and economic institutions, […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 15, 2016

The World According to Sergei Lavrov (and Putin)

By Alexei Sobchenko

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently blamed Vladimir Lenin for planting ideas that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was a telling statement in view of the upcoming centennial anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, which had an enormous impact on world history. We still don’t know how the Kremlin will commemorate this […]

Russia