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.

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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

The Long Arm of Russian “Soft” Power

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

The Long Arm of Russian “Soft” Power

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

The Long Arm of Russian “Soft” Power

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

May 3, 2020

Zelenskyy fails to deliver on promise of a new beginning

By
David Clark

Volodymyr Zelenskyy won the Ukrainian presidency in spring 2019 as a political outsider promising an end to decades of corrupt government. One year on, Ukrainians are still waiting for evidence of this fight against corruption.


Democratic Transitions

Populism


UkraineAlert

Apr 30, 2020

Putin must end Ukraine war if he wants sanctions relief

By
Lisa Yasko

The Kremlin is calling for sanctions to be relaxed as part of the global response to the coronavirus pandemic, but Putin has shown no accompanying inclination to end Russia's six-year war in Ukraine.


Conflict

Coronavirus


UkraineAlert

Apr 30, 2020

Ukraine must continue electoral reform in 2020

By
Harald Jepsen

Ukraine's fledgling democracy has made huge progress in recent years, but further reform of the country's Election Code is urgently required ahead of October's planned local elections, argues Harald Jepsen.


Democratic Transitions

Elections


UkraineAlert

Apr 30, 2020

Broadening Ukraine’s foreign policy horizons in the post-coronavirus world

By
Hanna Shelest

Ukraine's foreign policy has traditionally focused on the choice between Russia and the West, but the country could benefit from a more global approach to diplomacy with clearly defined regional strategies.


Coronavirus

Politics & Diplomacy


UkraineAlert

Apr 28, 2020

Coronavirus crisis spells doom for Putin’s dreams of rebuilding the Soviet empire

By
Solomiia Bobrovska

The coronavirus crisis has sparked a collapse in oil prices that is hitting Russia hard. With the Kremlin coffers increasingly empty, could change be on the horizon in Moscow for the first time since 1991?


Coronavirus

Russia


UkraineAlert

Apr 28, 2020

Three more reasons to be optimistic about Ukraine’s future

By
Adair Appleton and Doug Klain

After spending a year studying with some of the best political scientists and economists in the United States, Ukraine's up-and-coming innovators make their mark.


Civil Society

Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Apr 27, 2020

Is Saakashvili the right choice for Ukraine?

By
Peter Dickinson

Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili is on the verge of a highly unlikely return to Ukrainian politics as the country's new Deputy Prime Minister for Reforms. What might this mean for Ukraine?


Democratic Transitions

Political Reform


UkraineAlert

Apr 23, 2020

Does Putin want peace?

By
Peter Dickinson

The election of Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Ukraine's new president in April 2019 raised hopes of a breakthrough towards peace in the country's war with Russia. One year on, it is clear that only Putin can end the conflict.


Conflict

Russia


UkraineAlert

Apr 23, 2020

Unprepared Ukraine must learn from Chornobyl fires

By
Iryna Matviyishyn

Wildfires in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone generated global headlines in April and also served as a warning to Ukraine of what to expect this summer following a dry winter season of record high temperatures.


Climate Change & Climate Action

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 23, 2020

From virtual candidate to compromised president: Zelenskyy’s tough first year

By
Ilya Timtchenko

Volodymyr Zelenskyy was elected as the sixth president of independent Ukraine in April 2019 with a mandate to transform the way the country was governed. One year on, many voters are disillusioned.


Democratic Transitions

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

The Long Arm of Russian “Soft” Power

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

The Long Arm of Russian “Soft” Power

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

The Long Arm of Russian “Soft” Power

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

May 4, 2016

The Long Arm of Russian “Soft” Power

By Orysia Lutsevych

Anxious about losing ground to Western influence in the post-Soviet space and the ousting of pro-Russia elites by popular electoral uprisings in the early 2000s, the Kremlin has developed a range of proxy groups in support of its foreign policy. This network of pro-Kremlin groups promotes the Russian World (Russkiy Mir), a flexible tool that […]

Moldova Russia

UkraineAlert

May 3, 2016

Ukraine’s New Government Scores Big Reform Win

By Basil A. Kalymon

Land Reform Should Be Next April 27 was a bellwether day for economic reform in Ukraine. Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman announced that the cabinet has decided to unify natural gas prices in Ukraine to a single market price for both retail and industrial users. Effectively, this implies increased prices for the retail consumer that will […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 2, 2016

What the Banning of Crimean Tatars’ Mejlis Means

By Eleanor Knott

In the two years since Russia illegally annexed Crimea, Crimean Tatars have faced the brunt of the de facto authorities’ brutality. On April 15, Crimea’s so-called prosecutor, Natalia Poklonskaya, banned the Mejlis, Crimean Tatars’ representative body in Crimea, labelling it “an extremist organization.” Following the prosecutor’s move, Crimea’s Supreme Court banned the Mejlis on April […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 2, 2016

Memo to Europe: Don’t Fall for Russia’s Empty Promises

By Stephen Blank

As of this writing, the “cessation of hostilities” in Syria has all but collapsed, and thousands of Russian forces are aiding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s campaign to retake Aleppo. At the same time, the Minsk II agreement between Russia and Ukraine remains, as it always has been, an agreement more honored in the breach than […]

NATO Russia

UkraineAlert

Apr 28, 2016

Yanukovych Cronies Try Last-Ditch Effort to Dilute Ukraine’s Transparency Reforms

By Josh Cohen

On March 15, Ukraine’s parliament passed an important anticorruption initiative that requires officials to file an electronic declaration listing their financial assets—meeting a requirement for visa liberalization. While Kyiv continues to fixate on President Petro Poroshenko’s new government, on April 18 the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU) began to consider an appeal put forth by forty-eight […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 27, 2016

Has Ukraine Passed the Tipping Point Yet?

By Melinda Haring

How are Ukraine’s reforms coming along? It depends who you ask. During a recent visit to Kyiv, I heard a wide range of views. “Reforms are painful, slow, and haven’t passed the tipping point yet,” said Orysia Lutsevych, manager of the Ukraine Forum at London’s Chatham House, during the Kyiv Security Forum on April 14-15. […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 27, 2016

A New Attempt to Resolve the Ukraine Conflict

By Marieluise Beck and Ralf Fücks

The diplomatic efforts of the West to find a political solution to the Ukraine conflict have reached an impasse. Implementation of the terms of the Minsk agreement—far-reaching autonomous rights for the Donbas in return for a withdrawal of Russian arms and troops, the holding of regional elections under international supervision, and Ukrainian control of the […]

OSCE Russia

UkraineAlert

Apr 26, 2016

Two Years Later, Kremlin’s Lethal Lies about Odesa Fire Still Motivate Donbas Recruits

By Halya Coynash

Forty-eight people lost their lives in clashes between pro-unity supporters and pro-Russian backers and a fire in Odesa on May 2, 2014. Only hours later, Russia attempted to portray the mass riots and ensuing fire as a massacre, and that has continued regardless of several investigations, including one by the Council of Europe’s International Advisory […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 25, 2016

Here’s How to Make Ukraine’s Reforms Irreversible

By Hanna Hopko

We live in a time of transformations: today, we decide which Ukraine our children will live in tomorrow. But a new Ukraine will be hard to achieve unless citizens with no connections to the old system take action and begin controlling the government and thinking long-term. In 2013, Ukrainians protested to demonstrate that there was […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 21, 2016

Why I’m Pessimistic about Ukraine’s New Government

By Sergii Leshchenko

President Petro Poroshenko’s passivity in the fight against corruption has restored the old rules of Ukrainian politics and renewed the significance of the oligarchs. They’re his main partners now. The search for a new prime minister is only part of this ignoble process. Over the last two months, Poroshenko has managed to back himself into […]

Ukraine
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