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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

How Oligarchs Have Ruined Ukraine’s Economy and How to Fix It

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

How Oligarchs Have Ruined Ukraine’s Economy and How to Fix It

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

How Oligarchs Have Ruined Ukraine’s Economy and How to Fix It

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

Oct 29, 2024

Putin’s war on Ukrainian heritage: Russia bombs first Soviet skyscraper

By
Peter Dickinson

This week’s targeted Russian bombing of Kharkiv’s iconic Derzhprom building was the latest in a series of attacks on Ukrainian heritage sites that many regard as evidence of a deliberate Kremlin campaign to erase Ukraine’s national identity, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Oct 29, 2024

Putin is creating the conditions for Russian victory in Ukraine

By
Mykola Bielieskov

Whoever wins the US presidential election, they will inherit a war in Ukraine that requires their urgent attention to prevent a Russian victory that would signal the decline of the West and transform the geopolitical landscape, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Oct 24, 2024

Moldovan and Georgian elections highlight Russia’s regional ambitions

By
Katherine Spencer

Russia is playing a key role in elections currently underway in Moldova and Georgia, underlining Moscow’s determination to retain its regional influence despite challenges created by the invasion of Ukraine, writes Katherine Spencer.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Oct 24, 2024

North Korean troops could help Putin avoid a risky Russian mobilization

By
Olivia Yanchik

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has turned to his north Korean ally for troops to help cover his own army’s catastrophic losses in Ukraine and avoid a politically risky second wave of mobilization in Russia itself, writes Olivia Yanchik.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Oct 22, 2024

Ukrainian journalist who exposed Russian occupation dies in Kremlin captivity

By
Mercedes Sapuppo

The death of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna in Kremlin custody serves as a chilling reminder of the war crimes being committed throughout Russian-occupied Ukraine, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Oct 22, 2024

Western leaders offer underwhelming response to Zelenskyy’s victory plan

By
Aleksander Cwalina

Western leaders have failed to rally behind Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s victory plan, highlighting the limitations of Western support for the Ukrainian war effort, writes Aleksander Cwalina.

Conflict
France


UkraineAlert

Oct 22, 2024

Axis of Autocrats: North Korea’s escalating role in Russia’s Ukraine War

By
Olena Tregub

North Korean troops are reportedly set to join the Russian invasion of Ukraine. If confirmed, this would represent the latest escalation in North Korea’s support for Vladimir Putin’s imperial aggression, writes Olena Tregub.

Conflict
Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Oct 17, 2024

Russia is indoctrinating schoolchildren throughout occupied Ukraine

By
Tetiana Kotelnykova

The Kremlin is conducting a massive indoctrination campaign throughout schools in Russian-occupied Ukraine that underlines Moscow’s intention to erase Ukrainian national identity, writes Tetiana Kotelnykova.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Oct 15, 2024

Ukraine may allow drone exports in bid to support domestic producers

By
Marcel Plichta

Ukraine may allow the export of drones in a bid to boost domestic production amid limited state procurement budgets and to prevent Ukrainian drone manufacturers from relocating abroad, writes Marcel Plichta.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Oct 15, 2024

As the US election nears, anxiety is mounting in Ukraine

By
Katherine Spencer

Few countries have more at stake in the coming US presidential election than Ukraine, which is heavily dependent on US aid to sustain its fight against Russia’s ongoing invasion, writes Kate Spencer.

Conflict
Defense Policy

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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

How Oligarchs Have Ruined Ukraine’s Economy and How to Fix It

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

How Oligarchs Have Ruined Ukraine’s Economy and How to Fix It

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

How Oligarchs Have Ruined Ukraine’s Economy and How to Fix It

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 3, 2015

How Oligarchs Have Ruined Ukraine’s Economy and How to Fix It

By Basil A. Kalymon and Oleh Havrylyshyn

Ukraine finds itself in an economic crisis of massive proportions. In the past twelve months, its GDP has contracted by over 7.5 percent, the national deficit exceeds 10 percent, its currency has lost more than 50 percent of its value, its banks are insolvent and the national debt-to-GDP ratio has ballooned to more than 100 […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 31, 2015

Russia Threatens Ukrainian Pilot Nadiya Savchenko with 25-Year Jail Term

By Irena Chalupa

Nadiya Savchenko, Ukraine’s most famous female military officer, has languished in a Moscow prison for more than a year since Moscow-backed separatists captured her in eastern Ukraine last June and smuggled across the border to Russia shackled, her head covered by a sack. Now her captors have moved her again—and again under the cover of […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 30, 2015

Euromaidan’s Shockwaves: An Exile in Ukraine Recalls Fleeing his Native Kyrgyzstan

By Matthew Kupfer

On a recent warm summer night, Ilya Lukash sat in a bar near Kyiv’s trendy Kontraktova Square, drinking a beer and chatting with his friends in Ukrainian, Russian, and English. In a red T-shirt emblazoned with patriotic Ukrainian slogans, he could easily have been any one of the countless young, educated, pro-democracy Ukrainians who in […]

Central Asia
Russia

UkraineAlert

Jul 27, 2015

Here’s How the EU Can Get Putin’s Attention

By Andreas Umland

How would the West react to a major escalation of the war in eastern Ukraine? What would Brussels and Washington do if Russia continues to send troops there? Even though analysts often suggest arming Ukraine with defensive weapons, what people sometimes forget is that the West is still, by far, Russia’s largest trade and investment […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 27, 2015

Ukraine’s IDP Crisis Worsens as Local Attitudes Harden

By Kateryna Moroz and Olena Vynogradova

Ukraine officially has 1,381,953 internally displaced persons (IDPs), the country’s Ministry of Social Policy (MoSP) reported July 10. Overall, more than 2.3 million Ukrainians—including IDPs and those seeking refuge abroad—have been uprooted by conflict since March 2014. Yet the actual number of IDPs remains unknown and is likely to be higher, since the official figure […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 25, 2015

The Future of Ukraine’s Default

By Yuriy Gorodnichenko

On July 24, Ukraine paid a $120 million coupon to service its sovereign debt. In many ways, this event is a moment of truth: it signals that there is a prospect of reaching an agreement with Ukraine’s creditors. Earlier this year, Ukraine signed a major deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF agreed […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 24, 2015

Kremlin Stages Fake Separatist Stunt in Lviv

By Halya Coynash

Western leaders pressing Ukraine to give into Russian demands and offer the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics autonomy would be well-advised to take note of the other parts of Ukraine which, according to Russian media, are also demanding self-rule. On July 17, approximately twenty people in Lviv staged a blitzkrieg demonstration with banners demanding […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 24, 2015

The Enemy Within: Paramilitaries and the Ukrainian State

By Peter Sattler

Ukrainian paramilitaries pose an increasingly existential threat to Kyiv. Earlier this year, Kyiv launched an initiative to bring them under their direct control. But despite their nominal subordination to Kyiv’s security services, these groups operate with minimal supervision and maintain financial independence. Their fighting capacity breeds instability and violence. More recently, Right Sector is undermining […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 22, 2015

Reform Agenda in Kyiv on Slow Burn, But in Odesa, Saakashvili Already Delivers

By Kateryna Smagliy

“I come away from this visit to Odesa with a sense of optimism,” wrote US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt after his recent trip there. After I posted Pyatt’s article to my Facebook page in an attempt to diminish the growing fatigue of fellow Ukrainians over the mixed results of the new government’s reforms, angry reactions followed. […]

Russia
The Caucasus

UkraineAlert

Jul 22, 2015

We Are All Ukrainians Now

By Diane M. Francis

My first visit to Ukraine was in February 1992 and the City of Kyiv was gray, bleak and joyless as was the rest of the Soviet Union. Last month I re-visited—23 years and several other assignments later—to find a new nation of extremes. There is prosperity and there is poverty; there is peace and war; […]

Ukraine
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