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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

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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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.

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Content

UkraineAlert

May 26, 2016

Europe’s Humanitarian Fatigue Threatens to Engulf Ukraine

By Andrew Kornbluth

Earlier this month, Jean-Claude Juncker and Martin Schulz, presidents of the European Commission and Parliament, respectively, published an appeal for continental solidarity in which they criticized “anyone who believes that the time of the nation-state has come” as “out of touch with reality.” The inaccuracy of Juncker and Schulz’s statement is reflected in the comparative […]

Europe & Eurasia European Union

UkraineAlert

May 26, 2016

The Many Hopes of Nadiya Savchenko

By Irena Chalupa

“I’ve been in a prison cell for two years, I’m not used to people, so I am sorry if I sound harsh,” said Nadiya Savchenko as throngs of journalists and well-wishers crowded around her at Kyiv’s Boryspil airport on May 25. Captured in Ukraine, transferred secretly to Russia where she was tried and sentenced to […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 25, 2016

Savchenko’s Return May Unleash Political Earthquake in Ukraine

By Kateryna Kruk

It has finally happened. Nadiya Savchenko is back in Ukraine. The female pilot, who was captured in Ukraine and illegally brought to Russia on falsified charges, became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance against Russian efforts to destabilize the country. A Russian court sentenced Savchenko to twenty-two years for killing two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine, […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 23, 2016

Why Ukraine’s Gutsy, Bright, and Articulate Reformers Are Optimistic

By Diane Francis

“A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. . . . We must have patience till luck turns,” Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1798. Jefferson wrote this observation to a friend thirteen years after […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 23, 2016

Get Real, Europe. Sanctions on Russia Must Stay in Place

By Aaron Korewa

The EU is poised for another discussion on sanctions against Russia when they expire in July. As usual, there are some countries that are wavering for one reason or another. On April 28, French conservative MP Thierry Mariani secured a majority for a non-binding resolution in the French parliament recommending that the EU’s trade limits […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 23, 2016

Ukraine’s Parliament Is Getting a Facelift, but Will It Make a Difference?

By Brian Mefford

The newly elected Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Andriy Parubiy, wasted no time in announcing a series of internal reforms for the Ukrainian parliament, which has long been the most hated institution of public life. In the latest International Republican Institute (IRI) poll, 88 percent of Ukrainians viewed the institution unfavorably. Contributing factors to this […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 23, 2016

Ukraine Could Join the European Union by 2030

By Anders Åslund

Following the Revolution of Dignity, Ukraine has taken big political and economic steps forward. Today, we need to assess what has been accomplished and what Ukraine should achieve in the next fifteen years. The nation needs to set ambitious goals, aiming for an average economic growth rate of 6-7 percent a year. That kind of […]

European Union International Organizations

UkraineAlert

May 19, 2016

Reconciliation Will Be Ukraine’s Next Serious Battle with Russia

By Volodymyr Turchynovskyy

Until very recently, Ukrainians predominantly spoke a language of identities, differentiating between people from western Ukraine and people from the eastern part of the country, Ukrainian speaking versus Russian speaking, Greek Catholics versus Orthodox. But what was powerfully witnessed during the Euromaidan was the emergence of a new modality of communication that we might call […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 18, 2016

Memo to Ukraine and the West: Beware of Unrealistic Peace Plans. The Kremlin Will Outplay You Every Time

By Maksym Khylko

The latest Normandy Four meeting on May 11 in Berlin did not result in any major breakthroughs to end the stalemate in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine agreed to create demilitarized zones in separatist-held areas of eastern Ukraine, enhance information-sharing, and halt military exercises along the contact line, but these steps will not break the current […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 17, 2016

Why Sweden Still Hasn’t Joined NATO

By Aaron Korewa

Sweden is one of Europe’s fiercest critics of Russia’s actions against Ukraine, but NATO membership is out for now US President Barack Obama just hosted the leaders of the countries that he wishes the rest of the world would emulate. During the Nordic-United States summit, the president had a chance to repeat to his Scandinavian […]

NATO Northern Europe