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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

Things Are Looking Up for Ukraine: Debt Deal Reached

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

Things Are Looking Up for Ukraine: Debt Deal Reached

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

Things Are Looking Up for Ukraine: Debt Deal Reached

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

Jul 30, 2024

Paris Olympics: Ukrainian dedicates medal to athletes killed by Russia

By
Mark Temnycky

Ukrainian fencing star Olga Kharlan has won the country’s first medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and dedicated her medal to the Ukrainian athletes “who couldn’t be here because they were killed by Russia,” writes Mark Temnycky .

Conflict
France


UkraineAlert

Jul 25, 2024

The West should articulate the possibility of a European future for Belarus now

By
Richard Cashman

Failure to articulate the possibility of a European future for Belarus leaves the Euro-Atlantic community at risk of being caught off guard without a plan when Belarus reaches its fork in the road, writes Richard Cashman.

Belarus
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 25, 2024

Putin is convinced he can outlast the West and win in Ukraine

By
Mykola Bielieskov

The West’s collective fear of escalation and reluctance to commit to Ukrainian victory have convinced Putin that he can outlast his opponents and achieve an historic triumph in Ukraine, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Jul 23, 2024

Putin accused of jailing US journalists as ‘bargaining chips’ for prisoner swap

By
Mercedes Sapuppo

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has been accused of using American journalists as bargaining chips after jailing US reporters Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva on dubious charges ahead of a possible prisoner swap, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

Conflict
Freedom and Prosperity


UkraineAlert

Jul 22, 2024

Andriy Yermak: Ukraine and NATO are restoring Europe’s security architecture

By
Andriy Yermak

Together with the country’s allies, Ukraine has set out on the path to restore the European security architecture, writes the head of Ukraine’s Office of the President Andriy Yermak.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Jul 18, 2024

Hungarian PM Orban poses as unlikely peacemaker for Russia’s Ukraine war

By
Dmytro Tuzhanskyi

Hungarian PM Viktor Orban recently embarked on a global “peace mission” to end the war in Ukraine but he may actually be more interested in strengthening his own position, writes Dmytro Tuzhanskyi.

China
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 18, 2024

Ukraine’s drone success offers a blueprint for cybersecurity strategy

By
Anatoly Motkin

Ukraine’s rapidly expanding domestic drone industry offers a potentially appealing blueprint for the development of the country’s cybersecurity capabilities, writes Anatoly Motkin.

Conflict
Cybersecurity


UkraineAlert

Jul 16, 2024

Russia’s retreat from Crimea makes a mockery of the West’s escalation fears

By
Peter Dickinson

The Russian Navy’s quiet retreat from Crimea highlights the emptiness of Putin’s red lines and the self-defeating folly of Western escalation management, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Jul 16, 2024

I was sentenced to ten years in absentia for highlighting Belarus’s descent into dictatorship

By
Alesia Rudnik

My recent ten-year sentence in absentia is a sure sign that Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka is increasingly insecure and dependent on the Kremlin, writes Alesia Rudnik.

Belarus
Civil Society


UkraineAlert

Jul 11, 2024

Hospital bombing was latest act in Russia’s war on Ukrainian healthcare

By
Olha Fokaf

The bombing of Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital on July 8 was the latest in a series of similar attacks as Russia deliberately targets Ukrainian healthcare infrastructure, writes Olha Fokaf.

Conflict
Disinformation

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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

Things Are Looking Up for Ukraine: Debt Deal Reached

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

Things Are Looking Up for Ukraine: Debt Deal Reached

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

Things Are Looking Up for Ukraine: Debt Deal Reached

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

Aug 27, 2015

Things Are Looking Up for Ukraine: Debt Deal Reached

By Anders Åslund

Today Ukraine received great news. Private owners of $19 billion of Ukraine’s Eurobonds have agreed to a substantial debt restructuring that will give Ukraine much-needed relief. The high bond yields have been sharply reduced, the bonds’ maturities have been prolonged, and the face value of the bonds has been reduced by 20 percent. According to […]

Eastern Europe
Russia

UkraineAlert

Aug 25, 2015

How the West Can Stop Russia’s Escalating War in Ukraine

By Maksym Khylko

This month, Russia stepped up military pressure on Ukraine, concentrating about fifty thousand troops along its border with Ukraine, using its proxy militias to shell Ukrainian government positions in the Donbas, and threatening Kyiv with “a big war.” The current escalation indicates Russian discontent with Ukraine’s refusal to make unilateral concessions such as allowing the […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 20, 2015

Russia, Not Ukraine, is the Questionable Partner

By Melinda Haring

In its August 12 editorial, “Shaky Ukraine: Economics and Corruption Complicate Its War,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette calls Ukraine a “questionable partner” because of “resistance to economic reform and use of Islamist Chechen forces.” Too bad neither charge is true.

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 19, 2015

The Soviet Playbook in Ukraine

By Aaron Korwea

It appears that Russian President Vladimir Putin is losing the war in Ukraine. Gone are the talks about seizing so-called Novorossiya—the strip of land from Kharkiv to Odesa—and establishing a land bridge to occupied Crimea. Even though recent developments suggest a possible offensive to expand the territory Russia and its proxies now hold, perhaps with […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 17, 2015

“We want Ukraine to be a European country, not a Putin country,” Says Ukrainian MP

By Diane M. Francis

World attention focuses on ISIS and Iran, with its half an atomic weapon. But the biggest geopolitical issue is Vladimir Putin, backed by thousands of nuclear weapons, who is gradually conquering Ukraine, a democracy with 45 million people the size of Germany and Poland combined. In just over a year, Russia has seized 9 percent […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 17, 2015

Ukraine’s Fall Elections Matter More Than You Think

By Brian Mefford

With less than 80 days before election day in Ukraine, mayoral races are already heating up. Parliament approved a new election law that does two things: Ukraine will use an open-list system and the country will hold runoffs for mayors in larger cities. These two features combined with the potential decentralization reforms being debated by […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 17, 2015

Ukraine Must Finish Reforming Public Procurement Practices as Part of Anti-Corruption Drive

By Josh Cohen

As Ukraine struggles with a collapsing economy and Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas, a third crisis threatens its long-term national stability: endemic corruption. Ukraine ranks 142nd out of 175 countries on Transparency International’s latest annual Corruption Perceptions Index. Of the fifteen former Soviet republics, only Tajikistan and Uzbekistan score lower. Official graft is widespread, but […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 13, 2015

Russia’s Occupation of Ukraine Still Top Threat to Global Security

By Stephen Blank

Recent articles in the US media suggest that the Pentagon is “rebalancing” its forces towards Europe to meet the Russian challenge. At the same time, NATO plans to halve the number of air patrols over the Baltic. Supposedly the Russian threat to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania has ebbed, and governments are finally stepping up to […]

NATO
Russia

UkraineAlert

Aug 12, 2015

How Mr. X Outsmarted Mr. Kvit: The Lopsided Progress of Ukraine’s Education Reforms

By Kateryna Smagliy

Let me tell you the story of Mr. X—a student whom I had never seen in class, and who had not shown up for any of his final exams. “Oh, do not worry,” his fellow students reassured me, “it has been like this year in year out.” I could have easily forgotten this trivial episode […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 12, 2015

Ukraine Crisis Is Not Only About Ukraine

By Andreas Umland

The Ukraine crisis is not only about Ukraine. Far more urgent for humanity as a whole are the commitments made by Russia and other UN Security Council members with regard to Ukraine’s accession to the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT) following the Soviet Union’s collapse. The NPT aims to curtail the spread of weapons […]

Russia
Ukraine
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