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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

Latest analysis


UkraineAlert

May 9, 2024

Russia’s Georgia strategy offers hints of Kremlin vision for Ukraine

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Nicholas Chkhaidze</span>

Russia's attempts to force Georgia back into the Kremlin orbit via political control offer a hint of Moscow's vision for a future settlement with a defeated Ukraine, writes Nicholas Chkhaidze.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

May 9, 2024

Putin’s one tank victory parade is a timely reminder Russia can be beaten

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Peter Dickinson</span>

Putin's one tank victory parade reflects the catastrophic scale of Russian losses in Ukraine and is a reminder that behind the facade of overwhelming strength, the Russian army is far from invincible, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict


Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

May 7, 2024

Ukraine’s second city is struggling to survive amid relentless Russian bombing

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Maria Avdeeva</span>

Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv, is struggling to survive amid a campaign of relentless Russian bombing that aims to make the city unlivable, writes Maria Avdeeva.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

May 7, 2024

Putin cannot be allowed to use chemical weapons in Ukraine with impunity

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Emma Nix</span>

After years of Ukrainians sounding the alarm over Russia’s alleged use of chemical weapons, the US Department of State has now substantiated these claims, writes Emma Nix.


Arms Control


Conflict


UkraineAlert

May 3, 2024

UK gives Ukraine green light to use British weapons inside Russia

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Peter Dickinson</span>

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron has confirmed that Ukraine can use British weapons to attack Russia as Western leaders continue to overcome their fear of provoking Putin, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict


Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

May 2, 2024

Ukraine’s new mobilization law leaves demobilization issue unresolved

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Elena Davlikanova, Kateryna Odarchenko</span>

Ukraine urgently needs to replenish the ranks of the country's depleted military, but the recently adopted mobilization law fails to address the key issue of demobilization, write Elena Davlikanova and Kateryna Odarchenko.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

May 1, 2024

NATO chief urges long-term Ukraine aid as Russian army advances

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Peter Dickinson</span>

With Russian troops advancing in Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has accused alliance members of failing to provide Kyiv with promised aid and renewed calls for a reliable long-term response to Russian aggression, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict


Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Apr 29, 2024

Bombs and disinformation: Russia’s campaign to depopulate Kharkiv

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Maria Avdeeva </span>

Russia is deploying disinformation alongside bombs as it seeks to demoralize Kharkiv residents and depopulate Ukraine's second city, writes Maria Avdeeva.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Apr 28, 2024

US takes big step toward making Russia pay for Ukraine invasion

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert" >Kira Rudik</span>

While attention has focused on the military aspects of the new US aid package for Ukraine, the bill also includes an important step toward holding Russia financially accountable for the invasion, writes Kira Rudik.


Conflict


European Union


UkraineAlert

Apr 25, 2024

New US aid package is not enough to prevent Russian victory in Ukraine

By
<span class="gta-embed–tax–expert gta-post-embed–tax–expert">Peter Dickinson</span>

This week's US aid package for Ukraine provides the country with a vital lifeline in the fight against Russia but Western leaders must adopt a more long-term approach if they want to stop Putin, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict


Drones

spotlight

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 12, 2015

Ukraine Crisis Is Not Only About Ukraine

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Andreas Umland</span>

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

UkraineAlert

Aug 11, 2015

Even After Iran Deal, Putin Won’t Get His Way in Ukraine

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >John E. Herbst</span>

Ever since US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi last May, Ukraine’s friends have been concerned that in its eagerness to ensure Kremlin support for a deal with Iran, the White House was willing to let Putin have his way in Ukraine. Advocates of this outlook point to five […]

Iran Russia

UkraineAlert

Aug 10, 2015

Here’s Why I’m Hopeful About Eastern Ukraine

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Yuriy Didula</span>

In July, residents of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk marked the first anniversary of liberation from the occupation of Russian-backed separatists. Both cities experienced their rule for nearly four months in 2014. In the last year, marches, concerts, and city lights with slogans promoting peace have helped reinforce a growing sense of national pride. And yet a […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 10, 2015

Why Eastern Ukraine Matters to Ramzan Kadyrov

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Ruben Gzirian</span>

No Instagram account is more entertaining, more dumbfounding, and more terrifying than that of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov. On any given day, one is guaranteed to see video clips ranging from Kadyrov praying before dawn in the Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque to playing soccer at the FC Terek facilities (Kadyrov was the President of FC Terek […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 10, 2015

Making Ukraine the Breadbasket of Europe Again

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Oksana Khomei </span>

Ukraine’s system of agricultural production is paternalistic, dating back to the Soviet era, when bureaucrats constantly intruded into the production process. Such a strategy may have suited the planned economy, but in Ukraine’s market economy it has only spawned widespread corruption, because authorities cannot inspect every farm and business in person. EU standards allow producers […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 5, 2015

Moscow’s Veto of MH17 Tribunal: A Blunder of Potentially Huge Proportions

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Ariel Cohen</span>

On July 29, Russia vetoed a draft UN resolution seeking to set up a tribunal to prosecute those responsible for shooting down a Malaysia Airlines jumbo jet more than a year ago. By exercising its Security Council veto against the resolution, Moscow has lost control of the process, committing a possible error that may ultimately […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 4, 2015

Debunking Russia’s Narrative of Rampant Anti-Semitism in Ukraine Again

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Halya Coynash</span>

The Congress of National Communities of Ukraine’s latest reports on xenophobia in Ukraine have struck another blow to Moscow’s persistent attempts to present the country as a hotbed of anti-Semitism. The reports make no mention of the “pogroms” alleged by the Russian Foreign Ministry, nor do they back Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assertion of a […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 3, 2015

Retribution in the New Crimea

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Melinda Haring</span>

In March 2015, the Atlantic Council and Freedom House published a report by Crimean journalist Andrii Klymenko showing how Russia’s occupation and annexation of Crimea has unleashed an ongoing chain of human rights violations across the peninsula. Five days after release of the report—Human Rights Abuses in Russian-Occupied Crimea—Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) charged Klymenko […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 3, 2015

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

By <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Basil A. Kalymon and Oleh Havrylyshyn</span>

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 <span class="gta-embed--tax--expert gta-post-embed--tax--expert" >Irena Chalupa</span>

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