UkraineAlert

UkraineAlert

UkraineAlert is a comprehensive online publication that provides regular news and analysis on developments in Ukraine’s politics, economy, civil society, and culture. UkraineAlert sources analysis and commentary from a wide-array of thought-leaders, politicians, experts, and activists from Ukraine and the global community. UkraineAlert has become a major publication in Ukraine’s news landscape and has established itself not only through its quality of content but also significant partnerships with English, Ukrainian, and Russian-language media through the country.

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

Have Ukraine’s Reforms Stalled?

UkraineAlert
May 12, 2026

Ukrainian long-range drones are turning Russia’s size into a weakness

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine is waging a strategic bombing campaign of deep strikes across the Russian Federation that aims to exploit Russia’s colossal size and transform it from a key strength into a fatal weakness, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Technologies

Have Ukraine’s Reforms Stalled?

UkraineAlert
May 1, 2026

Europe needs Ukraine as it looks to counter growing Russian threat

By
Zahar Hryniv

More than a year since Trump returned to the White House, it is clear that Europe needs to develop its own strategic vision for the continent’s defense. It is equally apparent that Ukraine must be central to this vision, writes Zahar Hryniv.

Conflict
Defense Industry

Have Ukraine’s Reforms Stalled?

UkraineAlert
Apr 30, 2026

Zelenskyy refuses Russian demands to surrender Ukraine’s vital fortress belt

By
Marc Goedemans

Ukraine rejects Russian demands to withdraw from northern Donetsk province as part of a peace deal and insists the region’s fortress belt is absolutely indispensable for the defense of the country as a whole, writes Marc Goedemans.

Conflict
Defense Policy

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Nov 10, 2022

Battle of Kherson: Russian retreat confirms Putin is losing the war

By
Andriy Zagorodnyuk

The war is still far from over, but Ukraine's victory in the Battle of Kherson may eventually come to be seen as one of the key turning points in the defeat of Vladimir Putin’s invasion, writes Andriy Zagorodnyuk.


Conflict

Freedom and Prosperity


UkraineAlert

Nov 9, 2022

Putin suffers humiliating defeat as Russia announces Kherson retreat

By
Peter Dickinson

Russia's retreat from Kherson is a turning point in the invasion of Ukraine and a personal humiliation for Vladimir Putin just weeks after he declared that the city had joined the Russian Federation "forever."


Conflict

Human Rights


UkraineAlert

Nov 8, 2022

NATO, Nazis, Satanists: Putin is running out of excuses for his imperial war

By
Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin has blamed his invasion on everything from NATO expansion to Nazis and Satanists. In reality, he is waging an old-fashioned war of imperial expansion with the end goal of extinguishing Ukrainian statehood.


Conflict

Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Nov 7, 2022

The international community must prepare for a post-Putin Russia

By
Francis M. O’Donnell

With little hope of a meaningful settlement as long as Vladimir Putin remains in power, the international community should seek pathways to a lasting peace with a future post-Putin Russia, writes Francis O’Donnell.


Civil Society

Conflict


UkraineAlert

Nov 3, 2022

Will next week’s midterm elections impact US support for Ukraine?

By
Peter Dickinson

US backing for Ukraine has been crucial for the country's fight back against Putin's invasion but the campaign leading up to next week's US midterm elections suggests American support cannot be taken for granted.


Conflict

Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Nov 3, 2022

Russia hopes a winter wave of Ukrainian refugees will divide Europe

By
Kristen Taylor

Russia's campaign of airstrikes against Ukraine's civilian infrastructure aims to spark a humanitarian crisis and fuel a new winter season refugee wave that Moscow hopes will undermine European support for Ukraine.


Conflict

European Union


UkraineAlert

Nov 1, 2022

Should Ukraine pursue closer ties with Taiwan?

By
Michael Druckman

In recent years China has emerged as Ukraine's leading trade partner but the war unleashed by Vladimir Putin has created a geopolitical climate where closer Taiwan-Ukraine ties may make sense, writes Michael Druckman.


Conflict

Digital Policy


UkraineAlert

Nov 1, 2022

Putin’s failing Ukraine invasion proves Russia is no superpower

By
Taras Kuzio

Vladimir Putin's failing Ukraine invasion has dramatically undermined the credibility of modern Russia's Great Power pretensions and exposed the dysfunctional reality behind the Kremlin's claims to superpower status.


Conflict

Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Oct 30, 2022

The West must not let Putin freeze millions of Ukrainians to death

By
Dennis Soltys, Alexander Motyl

Unable to defeat Ukraine on the battlefield, Putin is now deliberately targeting the civilian population and openly threatening to freeze millions of Ukrainians to death. The West must not stand by and let this genocide take place.


Conflict

European Union


UkraineAlert

Oct 27, 2022

A ceasefire would condemn millions of Ukrainians to Russian occupation

By
Mark Temnycky

Recent calls for a ceasefire in the Russo-Ukrainian War ignore the fact that millions of Ukrainians remain under Russian occupation and would face an uncertain fate if abandoned to the Kremlin, writes Mark Temnycky.


Conflict

Freedom and Prosperity

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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

Have Ukraine’s Reforms Stalled?

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

Have Ukraine’s Reforms Stalled?

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

Have Ukraine’s Reforms Stalled?

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

Aug 29, 2016

Have Ukraine’s Reforms Stalled?

By Anders Åslund

Few Ukrainians realize how impressive their economic reforms were in 2015. The question today is whether that reform wave will continue, or has come to a halt. The slashing of energy subsidies by 10 percent of GDP by unifying energy prices from 2014 to 2016 was most important. As a consequence, Ukraine’s public expenditures fell […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 29, 2016

E-Declaration—and Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Strategy—in Jeopardy

By Josh Cohen

A key element of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agenda is at a crossroads—and whether it is implemented on August 31 will indicate Kyiv’s commitment to reform. In October 2014, a new law requiring Ukrainian public officials to file an electronic declaration disclosing all of their financial assets was passed by parliament. This e-declaration law mandates that officials […]

Ukraine

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
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