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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

Why Ukraine Needs the IMF

UkraineAlert
Sep 30, 2025

Putin’s dream of demilitarizing Ukraine has turned into his worst nightmare

By
Peter Dickinson

Putin had hoped to demilitarize and decapitate the Ukrainian state, but his self-defeating invasion has inadvertently created the militarily powerful and fiercely independent Ukraine he feared most of all, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Technologies

Why Ukraine Needs the IMF

UkraineAlert
Oct 2, 2025

Drone superpower Ukraine is teaching NATO how to defend against Russia

By
David Kirichenko

Ukraine’s unrivaled experience of drone warfare makes it a key partner for NATO and an indispensable ally in the defense of Europe as the continent faces up to the mounting threat posed by an expansionist Russia, writes David Kirichenko.

Conflict
Defense Technologies

Why Ukraine Needs the IMF

UkraineAlert
Oct 14, 2025

Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure are a European problem

By
Aura Sabadus

Russia’s strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure are no longer just a Ukrainian problem. Moscow’s bombing campaign will become a wider European issue unless more support is offered to Kyiv, writes Aura Sabadus.

Conflict
Drones

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Dec 19, 2023

Wartime Ukraine’s European energy integration continues

By
Aura Sabadus

Ukraine has been invited to join Europe’s leading electricity infrastructure association in January 2024 as the country’s remarkable wartime European energy sector integration continues, writes Aura Sabadus.

Conflict
Energy Markets & Governance


UkraineAlert

Dec 19, 2023

Ukraine’s EU accession process faces bureaucratic and political hurdles

By
James Batchik

The European Council’s recent decision to open accession negotiations with Ukraine was a momentous moment both for Kyiv and the European Union. Now the serious work begins, writes James Batchik.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Dec 18, 2023

Support Ukraine today or fight Russia tomorrow

By
Oleksandr Zavitnevych

The threat posed by Vladimir Putin’s revisionist agenda can no longer be downplayed or denied. Instead, the choice facing Western leaders is simple: Support Ukraine today or fight Russia tomorrow, writes Oleksandr Zavitnevych.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Dec 17, 2023

2024 preview: The West must decide if it wants Ukraine to win

By
Richard D. Hooker, Jr.

If Western leaders fail to provide Ukraine with the weapons to defeat Putin in 2024, this will significantly increase the likelihood of a direct military confrontation between Russia and NATO, writes Richard D. Hooker Jr.

Conflict
Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Dec 14, 2023

Historic breakthrough for Ukraine as EU agrees to begin membership talks

By
Peter Dickinson

European leaders have agreed to officially start EU membership talks with Ukraine in a morale-boosting victory for Ukrainians as they defend their country against Russia’s ongoing invasion, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Dec 14, 2023

Russia and China are part of the same problem for the United States

By
Glenn Chafetz

China and Russia act together as an autocratic axis to endanger the United States and its democratic allies, writes Glenn Chafetz. Any attempt to appease Russia in Ukraine would only benefit China and weaken the US.

China
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Dec 12, 2023

Ukraine’s AI road map seeks to balance innovation and security

By
Mykhailo Fedorov

As the world grapples with the implications of rapidly evolving Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, Ukraine has recently presented a national road map for AI regulation that seeks to balance the core values of innovation and security, writes Ukraine’s Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov.

Artificial Intelligence
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Dec 12, 2023

New Polish PM Donald Tusk vows “full mobilization” of West to help Ukraine

By
Peter Dickinson

Poland’s newly appointed Prime Minister Donald Tusk has vowed to rally Western support for Ukraine as it continues to defend itself against Russia’s ongoing invasion, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Dec 7, 2023

While the West dithers, the future of the world is being decided in Ukraine

By
Peter Dickinson

If Western leaders choose to stop arming Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, future generations will view their decision as one of the great geopolitical turning points of the twenty-first century, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Dec 7, 2023

Russia’s invasion cannot derail Ukraine’s rule of law reforms

By
Denys Maslov, Oleksandr Vasiuk

As Ukraine defends itself against Russia’s invasion, the country is also pursuing an ambitious reform agenda that is primarily focused on transforming the Ukrainian legal system and establishing the rule of law, write MPs Denys Maslov and Oleksandr Vasiuk.

Civil Society
Conflict

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spotlight

Resilience in the face of adversity

Ukraine’s transformation

Ukraine has moved tentatively toward an open society and market economy since independence. The country has held several democratic elections and made halting progress in addressing corruption and state control in its economy. Since the 2014 Maidan Revolution, Ukraine has undertaken significant governance and economic reform and moved decisively toward a Europe-Atlantic foreign policy. Since 2022, Ukraine has resiliently continued to advance some reforms despite fighting for its very existence against the full-scale Russian invasion.

Learn more about Ukraine

Why Ukraine Needs the IMF

UkraineAlert
Dec 5, 2024

Ukraine’s entrepreneurial class can drive the country’s economic recovery

The Ukrainian SME sector has demonstrated remarkable wartime resilience and is poised to be at the forefront of efforts to create a modern, innovative, postwar economy, writes Anton Waschuk.

Read More

Why Ukraine Needs the IMF

UkraineAlert
Oct 1, 2024

Ukraine needs international investors to maintain defense tech momentum

By
Mykhailo Fedorov

Ukraine’s rapidly expanding defense tech sector can play a game-changing role in the war against Russia but Ukrainian companies need international investment, writes Ukraine’s Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov.

Artificial Intelligence
Conflict

Why Ukraine Needs the IMF

UkraineAlert
Jun 13, 2024

Ukraine officially embraces English as historic westward pivot continues

By
Oleksiy Goncharenko

By officially embracing English, Ukrainians aim to support their country’s historic pivot away from Moscow and return to the European community of nations, writes Oleksiy Goncharenko.

Civil Society
Conflict

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.

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Content

UkraineAlert

May 9, 2016

Why Ukraine Needs the IMF

By Anders Åslund

Just after the May holidays, a mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) plans to visit Ukraine from May 10-18. The Ukrainian government and the informed public pay great attention to this event, and rightly so. Ukraine is likely to obtain a much delayed credit of $1.7 billion by mid-June. The beauty of the IMF […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 9, 2016

Ukraine’s Unique Totalitarian Trauma Offers Key to Historic Healing

By Peter Dickinson

Across the former Soviet Union, May 9 is traditionally the date for Victory Day celebrations to mark the end of World War II. In Ukraine, it can often feel as if the war never actually ended. Ever since Ukraine gained independence in 1991, World War II has served as a proxy battleground for Ukrainians as […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 9, 2016

Why EU Sanctions on Russia Are Overrated but Still Needed

By Christopher A. Hartwell and Andreas Umland

Calls for canceling the EU’s sanctions on Russia after they expire in July 2016 have recently been gathering momentum across Western Europe. On April 28, the French parliament passed a non-binding resolution recommending that the EU’s trade limits and other restrictions on Russia be lifted. Framing the sanctions as both ineffective and dangerous to France’s […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 4, 2016

The Long Arm of Russian “Soft” Power

By Orysia Lutsevych

Anxious about losing ground to Western influence in the post-Soviet space and the ousting of pro-Russia elites by popular electoral uprisings in the early 2000s, the Kremlin has developed a range of proxy groups in support of its foreign policy. This network of pro-Kremlin groups promotes the Russian World (Russkiy Mir), a flexible tool that […]

Moldova
Russia

UkraineAlert

May 3, 2016

Ukraine’s New Government Scores Big Reform Win

By Basil A. Kalymon

Land Reform Should Be Next April 27 was a bellwether day for economic reform in Ukraine. Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman announced that the cabinet has decided to unify natural gas prices in Ukraine to a single market price for both retail and industrial users. Effectively, this implies increased prices for the retail consumer that will […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 2, 2016

What the Banning of Crimean Tatars’ Mejlis Means

By Eleanor Knott

In the two years since Russia illegally annexed Crimea, Crimean Tatars have faced the brunt of the de facto authorities’ brutality. On April 15, Crimea’s so-called prosecutor, Natalia Poklonskaya, banned the Mejlis, Crimean Tatars’ representative body in Crimea, labelling it “an extremist organization.” Following the prosecutor’s move, Crimea’s Supreme Court banned the Mejlis on April […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 2, 2016

Memo to Europe: Don’t Fall for Russia’s Empty Promises

By Stephen Blank

As of this writing, the “cessation of hostilities” in Syria has all but collapsed, and thousands of Russian forces are aiding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s campaign to retake Aleppo. At the same time, the Minsk II agreement between Russia and Ukraine remains, as it always has been, an agreement more honored in the breach than […]

NATO
Russia

UkraineAlert

Apr 28, 2016

Yanukovych Cronies Try Last-Ditch Effort to Dilute Ukraine’s Transparency Reforms

By Josh Cohen

On March 15, Ukraine’s parliament passed an important anticorruption initiative that requires officials to file an electronic declaration listing their financial assets—meeting a requirement for visa liberalization. While Kyiv continues to fixate on President Petro Poroshenko’s new government, on April 18 the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU) began to consider an appeal put forth by forty-eight […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 27, 2016

Has Ukraine Passed the Tipping Point Yet?

By Melinda Haring

How are Ukraine’s reforms coming along? It depends who you ask. During a recent visit to Kyiv, I heard a wide range of views. “Reforms are painful, slow, and haven’t passed the tipping point yet,” said Orysia Lutsevych, manager of the Ukraine Forum at London’s Chatham House, during the Kyiv Security Forum on April 14-15. […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 27, 2016

A New Attempt to Resolve the Ukraine Conflict

By Marieluise Beck and Ralf Fücks

The diplomatic efforts of the West to find a political solution to the Ukraine conflict have reached an impasse. Implementation of the terms of the Minsk agreement—far-reaching autonomous rights for the Donbas in return for a withdrawal of Russian arms and troops, the holding of regional elections under international supervision, and Ukrainian control of the […]

OSCE
Russia
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