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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

Memo to Presidential Candidates: The Putin Problem Isn’t Going Away

UkraineAlert
Sep 30, 2025

Putin’s dream of demilitarizing Ukraine has turned into his worst nightmare

By
Peter Dickinson

Putin had hoped to demilitarize and decapitate the Ukrainian state, but his self-defeating invasion has inadvertently created the militarily powerful and fiercely independent Ukraine he feared most of all, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Technologies

Memo to Presidential Candidates: The Putin Problem Isn’t Going Away

UkraineAlert
Oct 2, 2025

Drone superpower Ukraine is teaching NATO how to defend against Russia

By
David Kirichenko

Ukraine’s unrivaled experience of drone warfare makes it a key partner for NATO and an indispensable ally in the defense of Europe as the continent faces up to the mounting threat posed by an expansionist Russia, writes David Kirichenko.

Conflict
Defense Technologies

Memo to Presidential Candidates: The Putin Problem Isn’t Going Away

UkraineAlert
Oct 14, 2025

Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure are a European problem

By
Aura Sabadus

Russia’s strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure are no longer just a Ukrainian problem. Moscow’s bombing campaign will become a wider European issue unless more support is offered to Kyiv, writes Aura Sabadus.

Conflict
Drones

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Sep 19, 2023

Putin “knows very well” NATO poses no security threat to Russia

By
Peter Dickinson

Russia’s recent demilitarization of its NATO borders proves that Putin does not view alliance as a genuine security threat and makes a complete mockery of Kremlin propaganda blaming the invasion of Ukraine on NATO, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Sep 14, 2023

It is still far too early to write off Ukraine’s counteroffensive

By
Dennis Soltys

The slow pace of Ukraine’s much hyped counteroffensive is sparking fresh calls for a negotiated peace, but the Ukrainian military may yet achieve its goals as long as international support continues, writes Dennis Soltys.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Sep 14, 2023

Putin’s North Korean “pariah summit” underlines his international isolation

By
Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin’s recent meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was a “Pariah Summit” that underlined the scale of Russia’s international isolation as a result of the country’s criminal Ukraine invasion, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Sep 13, 2023

Now is the time for businesses to look at Ukraine

By
Andy Hunder

Ukraine’s reconstruction promises to be the largest national recovery project in Europe since World War II and will create unique business opportunities, writes AmCham Ukraine’s Andy Hunder.

Conflict
Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Sep 12, 2023

Russia seeks to legitimize occupation of Ukraine with sham elections

By
Mercedes Sapuppo, Olivia Yanchik

In early September, Russia staged sham parliamentary elections in occupied regions of southern and eastern Ukraine as Moscow attempted to legitimize its earlier illegal annexation of five Ukrainian provinces.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Sep 12, 2023

US expected to decide soon on long-range missiles for Ukraine

By
Benton Coblentz

ATACMS missiles would greatly increase Ukraine’s ability to strike the logistical networks supporting Russia’s invasion and would make it increasingly difficult for Putin’s army to operate inside Ukraine, writes Benton Coblentz.

Conflict
Maritime Security


UkraineAlert

Sep 7, 2023

Ukraine’s partners cannot remove Putin but they can stop legitimizing him

By
Richard Cashman

As long as Vladimir Putin is in power, Russia will remain a rogue state. Western policies that legitimize him through fear of a potential post-Putin Russia are perverse, writes Richard Cashman.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Sep 6, 2023

Belarus dictator weaponizes passports in new attack on exiled opposition

By
Hanna Liubakova

Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka has banned the country’s embassies from issuing or renewing passports in a move that critics see as his latest escalation against Belarus’s exiled pro-democracy opposition, writes Hanna Liubakova.

Belarus
Civil Society


UkraineAlert

Sep 5, 2023

Removal of defense minister shows wartime Ukraine is changing

By
Melinda Haring

The removal of Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov in early September came following a series of minor but damaging corruption scandals and signaled a zero tolerance approach to graft in wartime Ukraine, writes Melinda Haring.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Sep 4, 2023

Jewish president picks Muslim defense minister: Ukraine’s diverse leadership debunks Russia’s “Nazi” slurs

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine now has a Jewish president and a Muslim minister of defense, underlining the diversity of the country’s leadership while exposing the absurdity of Russia’s “Nazi Ukraine” propaganda, writes Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society
Conflict

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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

Memo to Presidential Candidates: The Putin Problem Isn’t Going Away

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

Memo to Presidential Candidates: The Putin Problem Isn’t Going Away

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

Memo to Presidential Candidates: The Putin Problem Isn’t Going Away

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

Dec 14, 2015

Memo to Presidential Candidates: The Putin Problem Isn’t Going Away

By Terrell Jermaine Starr

Foreign-policy challenges will keep the next commander-in-chief up late. Analysts focus on the threat that Islamic State poses to the United States and its allies, but the Putin problem is unlikely to fade. As the candidates gear up for the next round of debates—slated for December 15 and 19—it’s time to take stock of the […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 14, 2015

Battle for Donetsk Airport: Haunting Documentary Captures Ukrainian Resilience

By Diane Francis

A haunting message from a Ukrainian soldier closes “Airport Donetsk,” a documentary about the 200-day siege that ended in January 2015. “I can’t sleep at all,” said the downcast survivor. “I see them…I see my guys in my dreams.” He was one of a dozen Ukrainians and Russians interviewed for this film by Radio Free […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 10, 2015

Russian Truckers Take to the Roads to Protest Tax, Declining Living Standards

By Sergey Aleksashenko

Hundreds of long-haul truck drivers have blocked Russia’s roads to protest a new national toll. The protest may cause changes in Russia’s political landscape and economic policy in the long-run, though its impact will be limited in the short-term. Even still, the protests are significant because they demonstrate an awakening of the Russian population and […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

Dec 9, 2015

Russian Military and Mercenaries Directly Implicated in Torture of Ukrainian Prisoners

By Halya Coynash

Ukrainian human rights activists believe that over 87 percent of Ukrainian soldiers and half the civilians who have been taken prisoner by Kremlin-backed, pro-Russian militants in the Donbas have been subjected to torture or ill treatment. Additionally, in over 40 percent of the so-called “interrogations,” key roles were played by mercenaries from the Russian Federation […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 8, 2015

Even in Theater, War and Displacement Has No Room in Ukraine

By Irena Chalupa

As I was walking up Kyiv’s colorful Andriyivsky descent on December 6, three explosions pierced the quiet evening. No one stopped examining the myriad souvenirs on sale in the booths lining the street, no one showed any fear or ran for cover. On the third explosion, one exasperated man exclaimed “Who the hell is blowing […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 8, 2015

Biden to Ukraine: “The United States stands firmly with the people of Ukraine”

By Melinda Haring

“Today Russia is occupying sovereign Ukrainian territory. Let me be crystal clear: the United States does not, will not, [and] never will recognize Russia’s attempt to annex the Crimea,” US Vice President Joe Biden said in a December 8 address to Ukraine’s parliament. The parliament gave Biden a standing ovation. Geoffrey Pyatt, US Ambassador to […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 8, 2015

The IMF Outfoxes Putin: Policy Change Means Ukraine Can Receive More Loans

By Anders Åslund

Today the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reversed its “policy on not lending into arrears.” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said in a statement that “the IMF’s executive board met today and agreed to change the current policy on non-toleration of arrears to official creditors.” Historically, the IMF has refused to lend to any country that has […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

Dec 8, 2015

Putin’s Goal is a New Yalta

By Aaron Korewa

I recently met with Ilya Yashin, a Russian opposition leader, political activist, and former colleague of the assassinated politician Boris Nemtsov. When I asked Yashin what the West could do to help those brave enough to defy the Russian regime, his main point was that governments and organizations must support Ukraine. The reason is obvious: […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 7, 2015

Take It to the Next Level: Create a Biden-Poroshenko Commission

By Anders Åslund and John Herbst

Ukraine has made great strides in the last two years. The democratic and pro-Western Ukrainian leaders that gained power in February 2014 have returned democracy to Ukraine and have conducted three free and fair elections at all levels of power. The Ukrainian nation has come together and successfully defended itself against Russian aggression. After two […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 2, 2015

Minimizing the Kremlin’s Influence on Europe

By Ariel Cohen

Ukraine can play a key role in Europe’s effort to decrease dependence on Russia’s natural gas. Europe’s over-weaning dependence on Russian energy is the focus of my new Atlantic Council study: Developing a Western Energy Strategy for the Black Sea Region and Beyond. Gazprom’s—and Moscow’s—energy clout has become a recognized challenge for Ukraine’s and Europe’s […]

Russia
Ukraine
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