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

Aug 2, 2022

Ukrainian civil society can play a key role in securing victory over Russia

By
Jonas Oehman

Ukraine’s international partners should seek to develop stronger partnerships with the country’s vibrant civil society sector and make better use of existing networks linking volunteers with the Ukrainian military.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Aug 2, 2022

Putin’s entire Ukraine invasion hinges on the coming Battle of Kherson

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s much anticipated counter-offensive in the south of the country is now gathering momentum with many observers predicting that the looming Battle of Kherson will decide the fate of Vladimir Putin’s entire invasion.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jul 30, 2022

Ukraine defies Russian invasion and advances European energy integration

By
Aura Sabadus

Ukraine has more than doubled the volume of cheap electricity it can export to EU markets as the country continues to advance its European energy integration despite Russia’s ongoing invasion.

Conflict
Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Jul 28, 2022

Vogue diplomacy: First Lady Olena Zelenska is Ukraine’s secret weapon

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska has recently sparked debate by posing for a Vogue photo shoot with celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz that some slammed as frivolous but others praised as a soft power masterstroke.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jul 28, 2022

Putin believed his own propaganda and fatally underestimated Ukraine

By
Taras Kuzio

Vladimir Putin likes to pose as an expert on all things Ukrainian but in reality his understanding of Ukraine is hopelessly distorted by propaganda that has led him to fatally underestimate Ukrainian resilience.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 27, 2022

Ukraine’s tech excellence is playing a vital role in the war against Russia

By
Valeriya Ionan

Ukraine’s tech sector excellence is playing a key role in the war against Russia by providing rapid solutions to frontline challenges in ways that the more traditional top-down Russian military simply cannot match. 

Conflict
Cybersecurity


UkraineAlert

Jul 26, 2022

More Russians must face personal sanctions over Ukraine invasion

By
Oleksandr Novikov

As the world seeks ways to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Oleksandr Novikov of Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention says dramatically expanded personal sanctions are the most effective available tool.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jul 25, 2022

Ukrainian footballers prepare to defy Putin with wartime premier league

By
Andrew Todos

The Ukrainian Premier League is preparing to begin the 2022-23 season in August despite Russia’s ongoing invasion of the country as Ukrainians turn to football to demonstrate their determination to defy the Kremlin.

Central Europe
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 21, 2022

Russian gas attack: Europe must not give in to Putin’s energy blackmail

By
Diane Francis

The CEO of Ukrainian energy giant Naftogaz has told European leaders to prepare for a complete Russian gas cut off and warned that any concessions to the Kremlin will only serve to encourage further energy blackmail.

Conflict
European Union


UkraineAlert

Jul 20, 2022

Ukraine can win

By
Richard D. Hooker, Jr.

If the West takes active measures to ensure Ukraine can’t defeat Putin’s Russia, it won’t. But if it commits to supplying the range of capabilities required for modern, high intensity warfare, Ukraine can win, and it will win.

Conflict
European Union

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

Mar 8, 2016

Will Ukraine’s Intrepid Female Pilot be Swapped for Russian Officers Held by Ukraine?

By Irena Chalupa

“Freedom does not have a price! I don’t believe anyone in Russia! I’m not afraid and I will not beg!”  These may be some of the last words that Nadiya Savchenko, Ukraine’s most famous political prisoner held by Russia, will speak. On March 3, the day her trial was scheduled to end and she was […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 8, 2016

The Church That Stalin Couldn’t Kill: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Thrives Seventy Years after Forced Reunification

By Nadia M. Diuk

Seventy years ago, on March 8-10, 1946, under orders from Josef Stalin, an illegal “synod” of Kremlin-controlled clergy gathered in the city of Lviv, recently absorbed into the Soviet Union as part of the settlement of World War II. The purpose of the gathering was to liquidate the independent existence of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 7, 2016

Why Does Putin Surprise Us Again and Again?

By Stephen Blank

From Great Britain to the Black Sea, Russia is waging a constant, unceasing information war against virtually every European government. This war takes many forms, but information war in essence entails what Peter Pomerantsev called the weaponization of information in the form of lies, misinformation, propaganda, exploitation of agents of influence, and reflexive actions inducing […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 7, 2016

Russia Declares War on Crimean Tatars

By Halya Coynash

Two years after invading and annexing Crimea, Russia appears ready to outlaw the Crimean Tatar Mejlis, the representative body of the largest indigenous people of the peninsula. The behavior which Russia deems “extremist” is essentially the Mejlis’ implacable, but always peaceful, opposition to Russia’s occupation. It is unclear whether Western countries will respond with more […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 7, 2016

Mother of Hunger-Striking Pilot Calls for Justice

By Melinda Haring

Editor’s Note: Ukrainian fighter pilot Nadiya Savchenko started a “dry” hunger strike on March 3 after Russian prosecutors requested a 23-year sentence for Savchenko. In 2014, Savchenko was captured by the pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas, transferred to Russia, where she was accused of involvement in the death of two Russian journalists. Savchenko’s mother Mariya […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 4, 2016

“You Have Not Defeated Me and You Never Will!” Ukrainian Fighter Pilot Nadiya Savchenko Tells Russian Court

By Alexei Sobchenko

Even for Russia, where everyday life can best be described as Kafkaesque, the case of Nadiya Savchenko is outrageous. In 2014, during the war in Ukraine’s Donbas, Savchenko, a Ukrainian military officer captured by the pro-Russian separatists in combat, was transferred to Russia, where she was accused of involvement in the death of two Russian […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 2, 2016

Early Elections in Ukraine Are Scarier Than You Think

By Adrian Karatnycky

Should Ukraine hold new elections? Despite the failure of Ukraine’s parliament to remove the government of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk from office on February 16, the defection of two parties from the governing coalition gives President Petro Poroshenko the ability to declare the absence of a majority coalition and force new elections. Western donors, including […]

European Union
International Organizations

UkraineAlert

Mar 2, 2016

Two Cheers for Cold War!

By Alexander J. Motyl

Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev’s recent suggestion that Russia and the West are embroiled in cold war provoked hasty denials by Western policymakers and commentators. In fact, Medvedev was right: cold war between Russia and the West does exist. But the West’s denials were unnecessary, because cold war is the best possible option for its […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 2, 2016

Women of the Euromaidan: Where Were They Then and Where Are They Now

By Josh Cohen

As Kateryna Kruk walked among her fellow protesters in Kyiv’s central square while checking her phone during the early days of the Euromaidan in December 2013, she noticed an opportunity: Ukrainians shared news of the revolution almost entirely in Ukrainian or Russian. Inspired by the use of social media during the Arab Spring, Kruk started […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 29, 2016

The Real Fight for Ukraine’s Future

By Emmet Tuohy

As rain clouds sweep in from the west on a winter morning, the Ukrainian Black Sea town of Mykolayiv does not present the most welcoming picture. Up to three feet of standing water obscure the city’s main intersections, where stray dogs and homeless people rush to traverse four lanes of traffic before the next taxi […]

Ukraine