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

What Ukraine Can Learn from Romania’s Fight against Graft

UkraineAlert
Sep 3, 2026

Putin cannot defeat NATO but he could divide and discredit the alliance

By
Peter Dickinson

If Russian President Vladimir Putin decides to attack NATO, his goal will be to divide and discredit the alliance rather than actually defeating it, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Policy

What Ukraine Can Learn from Romania’s Fight against Graft

UkraineAlert
Aug 27, 2026

Ukrainians are not superheroes with endless powers of resilience

By
Lauren Van Metre, Elena Davlikanova

By celebrating Ukrainian resilience as an almost superhuman quality, the international community risks obscuring the much less glamorous reality that Ukrainians are actually ordinary people who have endured extraordinary violence for far too long, write Lauren Van Metre and Elena Davlikanova.

Civil Society
Conflict

What Ukraine Can Learn from Romania’s Fight against Graft

UkraineAlert
Aug 25, 2026

A cultural renaissance is reshaping national identity in wartime Ukraine

By
Davis Richardson

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is fueling a defiant cultural outpouring that is redefining and strengthening Ukrainian national identity in ways that challenge centuries of Kremlin imperialism, writes Davis Richardson.

Civil Society
Conflict

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Jun 22, 2016

Europe’s Short Memory and Ukraine’s Long Crisis

By
Melinda Haring

“People have forgotten that there’s a real humanitarian situation and a real need in a European country,” said Jock Mendoza-Wilson, director of international and investor relations at System Capital Management, during a recent Atlantic Council panel examining the crisis in Ukraine. In fact, he said, six hundred thousand people on Ukraine’s contact line live in […]


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jun 22, 2016

Now’s the Time to Block Nord Stream 2 and Step Up Ukraine’s Energy Diplomacy

By
Olga Bielkova

Ukraine—a country that rejected aggression and militarization when it broke away from the Soviet Union—is fighting three wars today: the front in the east against an expansionist power, the battle within to defeat cronyism and corruption, and an economic war to reorient trade flows and modernize its economy. The world’s attention, as well as that […]


European Union

Germany


UkraineAlert

Jun 22, 2016

EU Renews Sanctions on Crimea but Overlooks Plight of Crimean Tatars

By
Eleanor Knott

In April 2016, Crimea’s de facto authorities banned the Crimean Tatar Mejlis—the organ of political representation for Crimean Tatars on the peninsula—under the pretext of “extremism.” Increasingly, Crimean Tatars seem to be framed as “extremist” just for being themselves. A historically nonviolent community, Crimean Tatars were the most visible and vociferous opponents of the region’s […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jun 21, 2016

The Painful Journeys of Ukraine’s IDPs

By
Kateryna Moroz

Two years ago this past April, the words “internal displacement” first appeared in the Ukrainian media. The term was brought by UN agencies that, along with local nongovernmental organizations, worked on a legal framework to regulate the phenomenon, which was completely new to Ukraine. Before then, journalists, volunteers, and even government officials called those who […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jun 21, 2016

Germany’s Socialists, Russia’s Fascism, and Ukrainian Deaths

By
Alexander J. Motyl

On June 15, Ukraine’s Minister of Defense Stepan Poltorak informed NATO that Ukraine had suffered 623 battle deaths in its war with Russia in 2016. This astoundingly large figure—which amounts to three to four deaths per day—demonstrates conclusively that Russia and its proxies have no intention whatsoever of adhering to the Minsk accords. The number […]


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jun 20, 2016

Why the West Was Wrong about Ukraine’s New Government

By
John E. Herbst

It is too early to draw firm conclusions, but Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman’s and Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko’s early moves indicate that Ukraine is still on the reform path. There was understandable pessimism when Groisman assumed office in April with a new government that did not include the previous cabinet’s strongest reformers. Critics also cast […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jun 15, 2016

Ukraine’s New Reform Plan Is Better but Not Radical Enough

By
Hlib Vyshlinsky

Two months ago, the Ukrainian parliament appointed Volodymyr Groisman as the country’s new prime minister. “I will show you how the country should be managed,” he said in his appointment speech. Groisman’s predecessor Arseniy Yatsenyuk was widely criticized for lacking a detailed action plan, so the new prime minister began managing the country from exactly […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jun 15, 2016

Ukraine’s Grassroots Transformation of Education

By
Yuriy Didula and Nadiya Mykhalevych

In today’s globalized world, education is perhaps the greatest challenge in a developing country. To keep pace with new technology and innovation, young people must possess not only basic skills but also be proactive, creative, innovative, and able to adjust quickly. According to the New Vision for Education report compiled at the World Economic Forum in […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jun 14, 2016

Odious Film about Russian Whistle-Blower Screens at Newseum

By
Natalia Arno and Melinda Haring

On June 13, the Newseum did what the European Parliament was too principled to do: it showed The Magnitsky Act, Russian filmmaker Andrei Nekrasov’s controversial new film about Sergei Magnitsky. Magnitsky was a Russian tax lawyer who investigated a tax fraud scheme on behalf of his client, British-American financier William Browder. In 2008, Magnitsky accused […]


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jun 13, 2016

Counting Sheep Is Courageous, Soulful, and Important: A Review

By
Diane Francis

“Counting Sheep” is a “guerrilla folk opera” that guides audiences on an immersive and soulful journey through Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity. Its creators are Mark and Marichka Marczyk who met and fell in love in Kyiv during the protests of 2013 and 2014. Mark is a talented Canadian musician of Ukrainian heritage and Marichka Kudriavtseva […]


Ukraine

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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

What Ukraine Can Learn from Romania’s Fight against Graft

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

What Ukraine Can Learn from Romania’s Fight against Graft

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

What Ukraine Can Learn from Romania’s Fight against Graft

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

Oct 12, 2016

What Ukraine Can Learn from Romania’s Fight against Graft

By Michael Druckman

In 2015, Romania got serious about its corruption problem. DNA, its aggressive anticorruption body, indicted 1,250 public officials, including the sitting prime minister. Five other ministers, twenty-one members of parliament, and Bucharest mayor Sorin Oprescu were indicted. The agency ordered the seizure of nearly half a billion euros. Romania is now perceived as less corrupt. […]

Central Europe Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 11, 2016

The Other Victims of the War in Ukraine

By Laura A. Dean

Ukraine has long been a country associated with human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of women, but recent reports of human trafficking as a consequence of the war in eastern Ukraine have brought a new urgency to this ongoing crisis. News articles tell chilling stories about slave labor camps, children’s brothels, drug couriers, drug couriers, […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 10, 2016

How Ukraine Can Make Its Diplomacy Smarter

By Victoria Khaladzhy

Public diplomacy has been singled out as a far-reaching mechanism for promoting Ukraine’s interests in the world. Diplomats have taken first steps in utilizing instruments from the country’s existing foreign policy tools. These include increasing person-to-person engagement, promoting economic interactions, intensifying exchange programs, and upgrading cultural centers abroad. Like other governments, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 10, 2016

Washington’s Patience with Kyiv Runs Thin

By Sergii Leshchenko

Last week my colleagues Mustafa Nayyem, Svitlana Zalishchuk, and I had dozens of meetings in the United States. Our impression was disappointing. Since the resignation of Arseniy Yatsenyuk (Washington’s favorite Ukrainian politician), reports of further corruption, and the lack of progress in resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the United States has grown weary of […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 5, 2016

Berlin or Bust: Germany Key to Maintaining Sanctions on Russia

By Oksana Bedratenko

When Russia illegally annexed Crimea and armed separatists in eastern Ukraine, the United States and the European Union jointly condemned it. Together they introduced sanctions on Russia in July 2014 that limited access to finance for key companies in Russia’s energy, defense, and financial sectors; froze assets and banned travel for officials directly involved in […]

Germany Russia

UkraineAlert

Oct 5, 2016

Q&A: Is Ukraine Still Changing?

By Melinda Haring

Three Atlantic Council experts answer questions about Ukraine’s ongoing reforms. 1. It’s been nearly three years since the Euromaidan protests began. How would you grade the pace and extent of Ukraine’s reforms? Anders Åslund, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council: In 2014, Ukraine carried out two vital preconditions for economic reform, early presidential and parliamentary […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 4, 2016

Stop Mistaking Russia for Europe

By Andrew Kornbluth

Like a coin inserted into a broken candy machine, the most recent attempt by the United States to broker a ceasefire with the Russians in Syria has vanished with nothing to show for it. Instead, in a calculated gesture of contempt, Russian and Syrian government forces annihilated a humanitarian convoy before beginning an unprecedented round-the-clock […]

Russia Syria

UkraineAlert

Oct 3, 2016

Kremlin Panics after Dutch Report, and It Should

By Alexei Sobchenko

The report of the Dutch-led investigation team on the shoot down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine offered a momentary glimpse into the true nature of the proverbial riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Instead of denying any Russian involvement in the death of 298 people in July 2014, a number […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 29, 2016

The Lessons of Babyn Yar: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

By Kateryna Smagliy

“No gravestone stands on Babyn Yar,” wrote the Soviet poet Yevgeniy Yevtushenko in 1961. He was condemning the Soviet regime’s failure to acknowledge the Babyn Yar tragedy twenty-five years after World War II had ended. When a monument was finally erected in 1974 to commemorate the deaths of 100,000 people generically characterized as “Soviet citizens,” […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 28, 2016

Putin’s Balkan Insecurities

By Stephen Blank

Two and a half years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, too many public figures in the United States and Europe still seem unable to decipher Russia’s motives. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently told a Bosnian newspaper that NATO’s readiness to extend membership to Montenegro and welcome Bosnia and Macedonia was not only a […]

Russia Ukraine
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