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.

Stay Updated

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

Only Presidential Leadership Can Avert Ukraine’s Perfect Storm

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

Only Presidential Leadership Can Avert Ukraine’s Perfect Storm

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

Only Presidential Leadership Can Avert Ukraine’s Perfect Storm

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 18, 2021

Naftogaz drama highlights Ukraine’s politics of personal destruction

By
Adrian Karatnycky

In Ukraine, it seems, no public leader leaves office without being subjected to a wave of invective, criticism, and scorn. This negative culture was on display recently during a turbulent leadership change at Naftogaz.


Energy Markets & Governance

Political Reform


UkraineAlert

May 13, 2021

Putin’s key Ukraine ally charged with treason

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s leading pro-Kremlin politician, Viktor Medvedchuk, has been charged with treason this week as the Zelenskyy administration escalates its efforts to counter Russian influence in the country.


Conflict

Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

May 13, 2021

Putin’s Ukraine War: EU warns Russia is “de facto integrating” occupied east

By
Peter Dickinson

The European Union has warned that Russia is seeking to “de facto integrate” the Kremlin-controlled separatist republics of east Ukraine. The EU raised the alarm in a note to member states, Bloomberg reported on May 12.


Conflict

European Union


UkraineAlert

May 13, 2021

A new vision for Ukraine’s Prosecution Service

By
Iryna Venediktova

Since Ukraine regained independence in 1991, successive attempts to reform the country’s prosecution service have met with only limited success. Efforts are now underway to change this disappointing picture.


Democratic Transitions

Human Rights


UkraineAlert

May 11, 2021

Blinken Kyiv visit analysis: What next for US-Ukraine ties?

By
Peter Dickinson

What can US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent visit to Kyiv tell us about the current state and future prospects for bilateral relations between America and Ukraine?


Corruption

Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

May 11, 2021

The only way to deter Putin is to arm Ukraine

By
Yelyzaveta Yasko

Vladimir Putin continues to menace Ukraine with border region troop buildups and the threat of a major escalation in the seven-year war between the two countries. The best way for the West to deter Russia is to arm Ukraine.


Conflict

Russia


UkraineAlert

May 10, 2021

Is Ukraine about to cut the Gordian knot of judicial reform?

By
John Lough

Under pressure from its international partners, the Zelenskyy administration is again pushing to overhaul the procedures for appointing members of Ukraine’s 21-member High Council of Justice.


Democratic Transitions

Political Reform


UkraineAlert

May 6, 2021

Blinken in Kyiv: US “stands strongly” with Ukraine

By
Peter Dickinson

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Kyiv on May 6 for a high-profile visit as Ukraine continues to face the threat of a major Russian escalation in the simmering seven-year war between the two countries.


Conflict

Russia


UkraineAlert

May 6, 2021

Naftogaz fiasco risks undermining Ukraine

By
Alan Riley and Suriya Jayanti

The recent decision to suspend the Naftogaz Supervisory Board and fire CEO Andriy Kobolyev risks undermining Ukraine’s security and exposing the country to greater dependence on Russian gas.


Geopolitics & Energy Security

Russia


UkraineAlert

May 6, 2021

Ukraine’s inaccessible cities

By
Iryna Ozymok

Ukraine's cities remain highly inaccessible for people with physical disabilities or limited mobility, but a growing number of civil society initiatives are helping to boost efforts to improve accessibility.


Civil Society

Inclusive Growth

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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

Only Presidential Leadership Can Avert Ukraine’s Perfect Storm

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

Only Presidential Leadership Can Avert Ukraine’s Perfect Storm

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

Only Presidential Leadership Can Avert Ukraine’s Perfect Storm

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

Feb 3, 2016

Only Presidential Leadership Can Avert Ukraine’s Perfect Storm

By Adrian Karatnycky

The February 3 resignation of Ukraine’s Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius is a signal that the country’s efforts to dramatically reduce corruption and rent-seeking are meeting with serious resistance. The resignation also exposes how Ukraine’s political system works. Just as in established democracies, technocrats and experts have to make common cause with politicians and ideologues. And […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 3, 2016

Russian Propaganda in Ukraine: Fighting Phantoms

By Roman Shutov

For Ukrainians, the war in eastern Ukraine has become an everyday reality. Only two years ago, though, no one in the country believed war was possible—and certainly no one expected that propaganda would be one of its main weapons. Since Ukraine’s independence in 1991, little attention was paid to building a system that would ensure […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 2, 2016

Thanks But No Thanks, Mr. Inozemtsev: A Response from Kyiv

By Olga Bielkova

What is wrong with Vladislav Inozemtsev’s recent opinion piece on how to help Ukraine? The problem with his article is not his advice itself, as flawed as it is, but the logic on which it is built. He uses the logic of imperialism, of an authoritarian state, of conspiracy theorists for whom the world is […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2016

The Future of Mykolayiv, the Future of Ukraine

By Michael Druckman

In many ways, the problems facing the city of Mykolayiv since the October 2015 local elections are a microcosm of the challenges facing Ukraine’s national leaders. The new mayor, with a strong track record of engaging with civil society on anti-corruption efforts and a fresh face to city politics, faces huge obstacles from old faces […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2016

Putin Gets It Wrong Again: Eurasian Economic Union Hurts Russia

By Anders Åslund

In June 2009, Vladimir Putin unexpectedly launched the idea of a customs union with Belarus and Kazakhstan. Soon it was named the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). In September 2013, Armenia agreed to join, and Kyrgyzstan joined in 2015. This is a Russian initiative, dominated by Russia in all regards. Its secretariat is located in Moscow. […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2016

In Ukraine, Putin Tries to Cash in Before Luck Runs Out

By Stephen Blank

Ukraine has become the object of high-stakes diplomacy. This does not mean that fighting has stopped—quite the opposite. Russian forces continue to launch probes and violate the cease-fire agreement; they have substantially reinforced themselves, as have the Ukrainian forces arrayed against them. Nevertheless, a major diplomatic campaign is occurring. Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken […]

European Union International Organizations

UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2016

Making Sense of Minsk: Decentralization, Special Status, and Federalism

By Paul Niland

Decentralization, special status, and federalism. These terms are three different things, although they are often mistakenly substituted one for another, and some people think one term means another in Ukraine today. The decentralization debate is heating up again as Ukraine faces a legal deadline to pass a constitutional amendment that gives the so-called Donetsk People’s […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 26, 2016

Not So Fast, Mr. Inozemtsev

By John E. Herbst

Responding to an article that Ambassadors Steven Pifer, William Taylor, and I wrote in The New York Times advocating greater US and EU assistance to Ukraine, Vladislav Inozemtsev wrote a provocative article January 19 in which he makes the case that Kyiv should cede the occupied territories of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), Luhansk People’s […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 25, 2016

Ukrainians Need to Stop Waiting for Their White Knight

By Sergii Leshchenko

My source leaned forward and said in a muffled voice: “The latest news is that grey cardinal Igor Kononenko’s men have been placed inside Ukrainian Railways, and Member of Parliament Sergei Fayermak of the People’s Front is now in charge of all the seaports.” This conversation with a government insider took place in the middle […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 25, 2016

Ukraine’s Economic Revival Starting in the West

By James Brooke

What do coastal China, northern Mexico, and western Ukraine have in common? After Beijing dropped Maoist economics in the 1970s, low-wage China began to thrive. The economic boom started with the coast, the area closest to the Pacific coast ports of Canada and the United States, with its access to a huge market. Low-wage northern […]

European Union International Organizations
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