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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

Yes, Putin Really Believes His Own Propaganda

UkraineAlert
Jan 20, 2026

Ukraine’s best security guarantee is the ability to strike back inside Russia

By
Serhii Kuzan

With Kyiv’s Western allies unlikely to risk war with Russia, Ukraine’s most realistic security guarantee remains a strong military coupled with the ability to strike targets deep inside Russia, writes Serhii Kuzan.

Conflict
Defense Policy

Yes, Putin Really Believes His Own Propaganda

UkraineAlert
Jan 15, 2026

Veterans can shape the future of Ukrainian democracy

By
Vasyl Sehin

The participation of military veterans in Ukraine’s political life has the potential to dramatically strengthen Ukrainian democracy and safeguard the country’s historic transition from centuries of Russian autocracy, writes Vasyl Sehin.

Conflict
Democratic Transitions

Yes, Putin Really Believes His Own Propaganda

UkraineAlert
Jan 8, 2026

Ukraine’s robot army will be crucial in 2026 but drones can’t replace infantry

By
David Kirichenko

Ukraine’s growing robot army of land drones will play a vital role in the country’s defense during 2026, but they are not wonder weapons and cannot serve as a miracle cure for Kyiv’s manpower shortages, writes David Kirichenko.

Artificial Intelligence
Conflict

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Aug 15, 2024

Ukraine’s invasion of Russia exposes the folly of the West’s escalation fears

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Oleksiy Goncharenko</span>

Ukraine's invasion of Russia has shown that Putin’s talk of red lines and his nuclear threats are just a bluff to intimidate the West, writes Oleksiy Goncharenko.


Conflict

Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Aug 13, 2024

New US-Ukraine partnership proposal from influential senators is a recipe for bipartisan success

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Andrew D’Anieri</span>

Senators Richard Blumenthal and Lindsey Graham came to Kyiv this week with an ambitious bipartisan vision for the future of US-Ukrainian relations, writes Andrew D’Anieri.


Conflict

Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Aug 13, 2024

Belarus’s political prisoners must not be forgotten

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Hanna Liubakova</span>

New sanctions unveiled in August have highlighted the plight of Belarus's approximately 1,400 political prisoners, but much more must be done to increase pressure on the Lukashenka regime, writes Hanna Liubakova.


Belarus

Conflict


UkraineAlert

Aug 13, 2024

Ukraine’s Kursk offensive proves surprise is still possible in modern war

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Mykola Bielieskov</span>

Ukraine’s Kursk offensive has succeeded in demonstrating that surprise is still possible despite the increased transparency of the modern battlefield, writes Mykola Bielieskov.


Conflict

Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Aug 11, 2024

Ukraine’s invasion of Russia is erasing Vladimir Putin’s last red lines

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Peter Dickinson</span>

Ukraine's invasion of Russia has erased the last of Vladimir Putin's red lines and made a complete mockery of the West's frequently voiced escalation fears, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict

Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Aug 8, 2024

Ukraine continues to expand drone bombing campaign inside Russia

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Marcel Plichta</span>

Ukraine’s long-range drone bombing campaign targeting military and industrial sites inside Russia has had a dramatic series of successes over the last few weeks, writes Marcel Plichta.


Conflict

Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Aug 8, 2024

F-16 jets will help defend Ukrainian cities from Russian bombardment

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Olena Tregub </span>

The first batch of F-16 fighter jets arrived in Ukraine in late July and are now expected to be used primarily in an air defense role against Russian missile and drone attacks, writes Olena Tregub.


Conflict

Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Aug 6, 2024

Russia is destroying monuments as part of war on Ukrainian identity

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Yevhenii Monastyrskyi, John Vsetecka </span>

Russia is destroying monuments as part of its war on Ukrainian identity throughout areas under Kremlin control, says Yevhenii Monastyrskyi and John Vsetecka. 


Conflict

Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Aug 6, 2024

Russia’s Black Sea defeats get flushed down Vladimir Putin’s memory hole

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Peter Dickinson</span>

Vladimir Putin's readiness to flush Russia's Black Sea naval defeats down the memory hole is a reminder that the Kremlin propaganda machine controls Russian reality and can easily rebrand any retreat from Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict

Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Aug 1, 2024

Europe can do more to help Ukraine counter Russia’s energy attacks

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Aura Sabadus</span>

Russia has destroyed more than half of Ukraine's civilian energy infrastructure with a targeted bombed campaign, leaving Kyiv in desperate need of European support ahead of the coming winter season, writes Aura Sabadus.


Conflict

Drones

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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

Yes, Putin Really Believes His Own Propaganda

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

Yes, Putin Really Believes His Own Propaganda

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

Yes, Putin Really Believes His Own Propaganda

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

Mar 17, 2016

Yes, Putin Really Believes His Own Propaganda

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Ben Nimmo</span>

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 <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Melinda Haring and Alina Polyakova</span>

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 <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Ian Brzezinski</span>

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 <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Alexei Sobchenko </span>

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

UkraineAlert

Mar 9, 2016

Ukraine’s New Political Law Privileges Party Bosses

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Brian Mefford</span>

On February 16, the same day it almost approved no confidence in the government, Ukraine’s parliament successfully passed law #3700 on its eighteenth attempt. While the law was overshadowed by the controversy over the vote on the government, the legislation is the equivalent of a new “January 16th law” for Ukrainian politicians. What is a […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 9, 2016

What Nadiya Savchenko’s Example Can Teach the West

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Jeffrey Gedmin</span>

March 5 marked the sixty-third anniversary of Joseph Stalin’s death. A friend texted me a photo of a poster from a Moscow bus shelter, a death mask of the Soviet dictator, captioned with the words: “That one died, this one will, too,” presumably a reference to Russia’s current ruler Vladimir Putin. There’s a certain sad […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 8, 2016

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

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Irena Chalupa</span>

“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 <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Nadia M. Diuk</span>

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 <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Stephen Blank </span>

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 <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Halya Coynash</span>

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
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