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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

Five Questions GOP Candidates Should Answer About Putin

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

Five Questions GOP Candidates Should Answer About Putin

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

Five Questions GOP Candidates Should Answer About Putin

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

Oct 31, 2023

How to bridge the Ukrainian government’s wartime funding gap

By
Anna Kornyliuk

With the current war now widely expected to continue into 2024 and possibly beyond, Ukraine will need significant additional financial support from its partners in order to defeat Putin's Russia, writes Anna Kornyliuk.


Conflict

Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2023

ATACMS missiles create new dilemmas for Russian army in Ukraine

By
Mykola Bielieskov

Two weeks since Ukraine's President Zelenskyy first confirmed delivery of ATACMS missiles from the US, reports continue to mount of highly destructive ATACMS strikes against the Russian army in Ukraine, writes Mykola Bielieskov.


Conflict

Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2023

Attempted airport pogrom highlights rising antisemitism in Putin’s Russia

By
Joshua Stein

An attempted pogrom in southern Russia's Republic of Dagestan has sent shock waves around the world and raised serious questions about the rising tide of antisemitism in Putin’s Russia, writes Joshua Stein.


Conflict

Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Oct 26, 2023

Arming Ukraine is cheap compared to the far higher price of Russian victory

By
Peter Dickinson

Anyone concerned by the cost of supporting the Ukrainian war effort should consider the far higher price the Western world would have to pay in order to stop Putin following a Russian victory in Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict

Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Oct 24, 2023

Ukraine’s EU membership bid set to receive big boost in November

By
Peter Dickinson

The European Commission is expected to give Ukraine the green light to begin EU accession talks in early November, marking a significant step forward in the country’s European integration ambitions, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict

Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Oct 24, 2023

Battle of Avdiivka: Putin’s new offensive continues despite heavy Russian losses

By
Olivia Yanchik

Russia has returned to the offensive in Ukraine in recent weeks with a major assault on the town of Avdiivka. The Russian offensive continues despite reports of catastrophic losses, underlining Putin's determination to secure victory at any price in Ukraine, writes Olivia Yanchik.


Conflict

Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Oct 23, 2023

Alsu Kurmasheva arrest: Russia has detained two US journalists this year

By
Mercedes Sapuppo

The Russian authorities have detained Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva for failing to register as a foreign agent, making her the second US journalist to be jailed in Russia so far this year.


Conflict

Freedom and Prosperity


UkraineAlert

Oct 23, 2023

Lend-Lease Act expiration will not affect current US aid to Ukraine

By
Olivia Yanchik

A Lend-Lease Act introduced by the US in spring 2022 to support Ukraine's fight against Russian aggression has now expired, but it may be worth renewing as a tool to bypass possible political obstacles to aid, writes Olivia Yanchik.


Defense Industry

Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2023

Ukraine needs electoral reform now for resilient postwar elections

By
Peter Erben, Gio Kobakhidze

Prioritizing electoral reform now will position Ukraine for postwar democratic resilience and will underscore the nation’s dedication to sustaining and improving its democratic traditions, even in the face of great adversity.


Conflict

Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2023

Zelenskyy should say a Churchillian “no” to wartime elections in Ukraine

By
Alan Riley

If Winston Churchill were still with us, he would surely be advising Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to ignore mounting international pressure to call elections in wartime Ukraine, writes Alan Riley.


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

Five Questions GOP Candidates Should Answer About Putin

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.

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Five Questions GOP Candidates Should Answer About Putin

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

Five Questions GOP Candidates Should Answer About Putin

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

Sep 15, 2015

Five Questions GOP Candidates Should Answer About Putin

By Terrell Jermaine Starr

Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s most bombastic presidential candidate, thinks President Barack Obama is a wimp and that he’s weak on Ukraine. “Putin does not respect our president whatsoever,” Trump said via Skype at the Yalta European Strategy Summit in Kyiv on September 11. Trump’s language is consistent with other Republican critiques of Obama’s handling […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 15, 2015

A Rock Star, The Donald, and Former Presidents All Agree: Ukraine’s Fate Matters to World

By John E. Herbst

Kyiv is famous for its golden Septembers, clear, cool days, where the sun shines brightly on the city’s many golden cupolas. The weather did not disappoint Ukrainian businessman Victor Pinchuk and the distinguished crowd at his 12th Yalta European Strategy Summit (YES) on September 10-12 in Kyiv. The summit was an impressive mix of glitz […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 11, 2015

Memo to GOP Presidential Candidates: Bust Three Myths About Ukraine

By Jeffrey Gedmin

Forces hostile to US interests are filling vacuums around the world. It’s Islamic State and Iran in the Middle East. It’s a rising China in East Asia. It’s a bullying, belligerent Russia in Eastern Europe.  How to reverse the fraying world order? On September 16, Republican presidential candidates will meet for a second debate, this […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 9, 2015

Reforms Will Succeed, But They Alone Won’t Save Ukraine

By Andreas Umland

Will Ukraine make it? Conditions necessary for Ukraine’s current reform drive to succeed look more promising than they did in 2013. Not only does Ukraine now have its most pro-European parliament and reform-oriented government since independence in 1991; it’s also seen at least four other significant shifts in domestic politics that, taken together, render any […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 9, 2015

Russia from Ukraine to Syria: Helping the Cat Down the Tree

By Ariel Cohen

Russia’s military involvement in Syria and Ukraine obligates the United States and its European allies to bring the Kremlin back to Earth and recognize that such adventures cannot be sustained indefinitely. Russia simply does not have the money and human resources to do so in view of low oil prices and birth rates. It will […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 8, 2015

Kremlin Uses Minsk Protocol to Undermine Ukraine Government

By Alina Polyakova

In peacetime, September 1 is an eventful day for Ukrainian children—it marks the first day of school. But the war in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, now in its second year, has put a dark stain on this usually festive occasion. This year, Ukrainian kids in Kyiv started school following violent protests outside Parliament. On August […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 2, 2015

Mr. Lavrov Builds His Dream World

By Adrian Karatnycky

Each summer, as part of ongoing efforts to influence their young, Russia’s government leaders and propagandists head to a conference center on the Klyazma River about 130 miles northeast of Moscow to address the “Terra Scientia” Russian Youth Education Conference. Despite its lofty name, the conference bears little trace of free inquiry. Over the course […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

Sep 2, 2015

In the Face of Russian Aggression in Ukraine, a New US Agenda for Europe

By Stephen Blank

Since the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, the world has seen precious little Western leadership when it comes to confronting Russian President Vladimir Putin—despite US and European Union sanctions, recent efforts to strengthen NATO’s conventional deterrence in Europe, and the first signs of increased defense spending in Europe. Even in the face of plans to send […]

NATO Russia

UkraineAlert

Sep 1, 2015

Frozen Conflict in Moldova’s Transnistria: A Fitting Analogy to Ukraine’s Hybrid War?

By Sergiy Gerasymchuk

History is a great teacher, so it’s no surprise that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and his subsequent Kremlin speech justifying it brought back memories of the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland in 1938. Parallels between Hitler and Putin abound, as do their motivations and the eventual global impact of the two […]

Moldova Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 31, 2015

Outflows of ‘Hot Money’ Exacerbate Europe’s Growing Refugee Crisis

By Diane Francis

The recent collapse in stock markets and the sudden flow of refugees into Europe led world headlines in August—in a convergence of phenomena that are closely linked. Unprecedented flows of hot, or illicit, money are damaging most economies, causing both investors and migrants to flee. Ironically, China has outperformed all other economies, even though it […]

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