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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

What Minsk Accord? Kremlin-Backed Militants Hold Luhansk Journalist Hostage for Year

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

What Minsk Accord? Kremlin-Backed Militants Hold Luhansk Journalist Hostage for Year

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

What Minsk Accord? Kremlin-Backed Militants Hold Luhansk Journalist Hostage for Year

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

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


UkraineAlert

Dec 5, 2023

Fake history is a crucial weapon in Vladimir Putin’s bid to destroy Ukraine

By
Ihor Smeshko

The invading Russian army is not the only enemy Ukraine faces; the Kremlin propaganda and false historical narratives that drive and justify the invasion are arguably just as deadly, writes Ihor Smeshko.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Dec 5, 2023

2023 review: Ukraine scores key victories in the Battle of the Black Sea

By
Oleksiy Goncharenko

The front lines of the Russian invasion in Ukraine have barely moved in 2023, but Ukraine has had far more success in the Black Sea, where it has broken Russia’s blockade and forced Putin’s fleet to retreat from Crimea, writes Oleksiy Goncharenko.

Conflict
Drones


UkraineAlert

Nov 30, 2023

Putin’s pro-war majority: Most Russians still support Ukraine invasion

By
Peter Dickinson

Putin’s pro-war majority: almost two years on, most Russians still support the Ukraine invasion and have reconciled themselves to the reality of a long war, writes Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Nov 30, 2023

Western leaders must choose: Arm Ukraine or enable Putin’s genocide

By
Taras Kuzio

Western leaders must decide whether they are finally prepared to arm Ukraine adequately or face the consequences of a Russian victory which would lead to genocide in the heart of Europe, writes Taras Kuzio.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Nov 28, 2023

Putin debunks his own propaganda by disarming Russia’s NATO borders

By
Peter Dickinson

Putin publicly blames NATO for provoking the invasion of Ukraine, but Russia’s recent demilitarization of the country’s borders with neighboring NATO members makes a mockery of such claims, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Democratic Transitions

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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 Minsk Accord? Kremlin-Backed Militants Hold Luhansk Journalist Hostage for Year

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 Minsk Accord? Kremlin-Backed Militants Hold Luhansk Journalist Hostage for Year

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 Minsk Accord? Kremlin-Backed Militants Hold Luhansk Journalist Hostage for Year

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

Jan 19, 2016

What Minsk Accord? Kremlin-Backed Militants Hold Luhansk Journalist Hostage for Year

By Halya Coynash

Eleven months after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s agreement in Minsk that all prisoners must be released, Kremlin-backed militants are continuing to hold a number of prisoners, including many civilians, like 31-year-old Luhansk journalist Maria Varfolomeyeva. Varfolomeyeva worked for the local news website Svobodny Reporter and has worked as a fixer for various national media, including […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 19, 2016

How to Help Ukraine: An Alternative Vision

By Vladislav Inozemtsev

Three former US Ambassadors to Ukraine recently wrote an op-ed article in the New York Times (“Investing in Ukraine’s Future,” December 30, 2015) that called for an increase in Western financial assistance to Ukraine and argued that the country is now “teetering on the brink.” I strongly support their willingness to stay firm against a […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 19, 2016

How Ukraine’s Reformers Beat the Pharma Mafia

By Josh Cohen

A little over a month after US Vice President Joe Biden told Ukrainian legislators that graft was eating Ukraine “like a cancer,” an order from Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers struck a decisive blow against pharmaceutical corruption. This order outsources the purchasing of numerous medicines for seriously ill Ukrainians from the Ministry of Health to respected international […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 18, 2016

Seven Key Reforms for Ukraine in 2016

By Anders Åslund

After Orthodox Christmas, I spent a few days in Kyiv. It is quite striking how the mood has changed in a positive direction. The 2016 budget and the modified tax code were adopted on December 24. After two weeks of well-deserved rest, there is a sudden realization that Ukraine accomplished many important economic reforms in […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 13, 2016

New Poll Confirms Growing Mistrust Between Donbas Residents and Kyiv

By Michael Druckman and Katie LaRoque

Ukrainians elected more than 10,000 mayors and 160,000 city councilmembers in local elections on October 25. It was the third nationwide election since the Euromaidan Revolution. A new International Republican Institute (IRI) poll of the Ukrainian-controlled territories of the Donbas region (i.e., Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts) reveals that only 26 percent of respondents believe the […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 13, 2016

Free the Kremlin’s 20 Ukrainian Hostages Now

By Maria Tomak

Soviet dissident Vasyl Stus—an important Ukrainian poet of the twentieth century—never lived to see the fall of the Soviet Union. He died in a prison camp near Perm in 1985. As I read one of Stus’s poems about Siberia, I realized that Gennadiy Afanasyev, a 25-year-old Crimean photographer exiled to the Sytkyvkar penal camp in […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 13, 2016

The Complex History of the Ukrainian Nation: A Review of “The Gates of Europe”

By Alexei Sobchenko

During a time of war, history becomes a weapon used to justify claims and raise soldiers’ spirits. In this case, successful histories are simple, unequivocal, and confirmed by the experiences of past centuries. The current Kremlin version of history of the relationship between Russia and Ukraine fully meets these criteria. According to Moscow, there was […]

Poland
Russia

UkraineAlert

Jan 12, 2016

Ukraine Should Do More to Combat Human Trafficking

By Luke A. Drabyn

Ukraine remains one of Europe’s most notorious sources of human trafficking. Since 1991, over 160,000 men, women, and children have been exploited for labor, sex, forced begging, and organ removal, according to a mid-2015 report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Ukraine’s Ministry of Social Policy, with recommendations from domestic and international nongovernmental organizations, […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 12, 2016

2016 Will Be a Make It or Break It Year for Ukraine

By Alina Polyakova

Two years ago, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians braved the freezing temperatures on Kyiv’s Maidan to protest. Since then, Ukraine has gone through almost too many crises to count: upheaval with the ousting of former President Viktor Yanukovych; Russian occupation of Crimea; a war with Russian forces in the Donbas that continues to simmer; and […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 6, 2016

How Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Sabotaged the Reform Process

By Halya Coynash

Viktor Shokin, Ukraine’s prosecutor general, was upbeat in his New Year’s message to colleagues. While “2015 was a difficult and responsible year for us all,” he wrote, we “carried out unprecedented reform and overhaul of the prosecutor’s system, bringing it closer to European standards.” Almost twenty years after Ukraine promised to reform its prosecutor’s office […]

Ukraine
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