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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

Aug 11, 2025

Alaska Summit: Trump must press Putin over future Ukrainian security

By
John E. Herbst

Trump-Putin Alaska Summit: If Moscow insists on the acceptance of Russian control over Ukrainian land for a ceasefire, it must accept strong measures to bolster Ukrainian security as well, writes John E. Herbst.

Conflict
European Union


UkraineAlert

Aug 7, 2025

Ukraine’s expanding robot army can help address manpower shortages

By
David Kirichenko

Robotic systems are in many ways an ideal battlefield solution for Ukraine as the country seeks ways to leverage its proven tech prowess in order to defend itself in a grueling war of attrition against a far larger enemy, writes David Kirichenko.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Aug 5, 2025

Digital democracy is the key to staging wartime elections in Ukraine

By
Brian Mefford

With no end in sight to Russia’s invasion, Ukraine cannot afford to postpone all elections indefinitely. With this in mind, it is time to start the process of digitalizing Ukraine’s democracy, writes Brian Mefford.

Civil Society
Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Aug 5, 2025

Ukraine’s anti-corruption reforms are more vital than ever during wartime

By
Olena Halushka

The recent wave of nationwide protests in defense of the country’s anti-corruption reforms served as a timely reminder that Ukraine’s democratic instincts remain strong, even amid the horrors of Russia’s invasion and the escalating bombardment of Ukrainian cities, writes Olena Halushka.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 30, 2025

A Ukraine without Ukrainians: Putin is erasing Europe’s largest nation

By
Peter Dickinson

Russia is systematically erasing all traces of Ukrainian national identity throughout occupied Ukraine as Vladimir Putin pursues an extreme form of eliminationist imperialism in the heart of twenty-first century Europe, writes Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 30, 2025

Ukraine’s democracy is the key to the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration

By
Alyona Getmanchuk

While Ukraine currently faces a range of unique challenges, this cannot justify neglecting democratic principles. On the contrary, defending the democratic gains of recent decades is vital if further progress toward Euro-Atlantic integration is to be achieved, writes Alyona Getmanchuk.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 29, 2025

Trump offered Putin victory in Ukraine. Why did Putin refuse?

By
Peter Dickinson

Trump thought he could get a peace deal in Ukraine by offering Putin generous terms that amounted to a Russian victory. But Putin rejected Trump’s offer because he cannot accept anything less that Ukraine’s complete capitulation, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jul 29, 2025

US ambassador: China believes it is waging a proxy war through Russia

By
Mykola Bielieskov

US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker has attacked China for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and accused Beijing of waging a “proxy war” to distract the West, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

China
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 25, 2025

Ukraine’s supporters should prioritize unity and focus on defeating Russia

By
Pavlo Grod

Wartime Ukraine needs unity. Even when the country’s supporters bitterly disagree, it is important to remember exactly what is at stake, writes Pavlo Grod.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 24, 2025

Wartime protests prove Ukraine’s democratic instincts are still strong

By
Peter Dickinson

This week’s nationwide protests are a reminder that Ukraine’s grassroots democratic instincts remain exceptionally strong despite the current wartime conditions in the country, writes Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society
Conflict

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

Apr 16, 2015

Out of the Abyss: Anders Åslund Sees Hope for Ukrainian Economy

By Thomas O. Melia

Ukraine: What Went Wrong and How to Fix It, the new book by Anders Åslund of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, presents so compelling an argument that—even before publication on April 17—it has already persuaded the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Western nations to adopt a $40 billion economic stabilization program for Ukraine. This […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 14, 2015

The Balkan Piece of the Putin Puzzle

By Stephen Blank

While the Russian threat to Poland and the Baltic States has sparked justified anxiety, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s imperial adventure is just as much of a threat to the Balkans.  Moscow is putting on a full-court press—using energy exports, information warfare, trade, arms sales, and efforts to obtain military bases in Cyprus, Montenegro and Serbia—to […]

Energy & Environment Energy Markets & Governance

UkraineAlert

Apr 14, 2015

A View from Luhansk: Waiting for War to Return

By Alina Polyakova

Luhansk Oblast – Ukrainians are waiting for war to start again. Since a ceasefire agreement went into effect in February, the winter has been relatively quiet in Luhansk Oblast, marred only by sporadic rockets fired from the territory of the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR). In many respects, life appears oddly normal in the small […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 13, 2015

New Ukraine Disrupts Old Ukraine

By John E. Herbst

There’s good reason for guarded optimism in the new Ukraine. President Petro Poroshenko and the parliament brought the country’s most powerful oligarch to heel in March 2015 and the justice department has set its sights on the richest oligarchs.

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 9, 2015

Poroshenko Goes Hunting for Oligarchs

By Brian Mefford

Ukraine won an important battle in the war against the oligarchs with the removal of Dnipropetrovsk Governor Ihor Kolomoyskyi last week. But Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the Ukrainian parliament are just getting started.  On April 7 the government challenged billionaire Rinat Akhmetov’s grip on energy companies. Some parliamentarians are pushing to curb the power […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 7, 2015

Will Sanctions on Russia, Weapons for Ukrainians Keep Putin at Bay?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Former Putin advisor says they will not, advocates stronger response Western sanctions on Russia are not working and a proposal to provide defensive weapons to Ukrainian security forces will not deter the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, according to Andrei Illarionov, a former advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “For those few people who are there […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 7, 2015

Putin’s Chilling Message to the West

By Ariel Cohen

Vladimir Putin’s 10-day disappearance shortly after the murder of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov and his triumphal reappearance after the broadcast of a 150-minute documentary on state television, suggest a more erratic—and aggressive—policy course in Russia. Here’s why. After Putin’s disappearance on March 5, the Russian media and the blogosphere dealt with little else.  However, the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Apr 2, 2015

The IMF’s Very Tough Love for Ukraine

By Yuriy Gorodnichenko

As Kyiv Slashes Spending, the Economy’s Real Shrinkage This Year May Be 10, Not 6, Percent The International Monetary Fund last month threw what looks like a much-improved financial lifeline to Ukraine—and indeed, the new loan program is welcome help for a desperate need. But a check on the math of one prominent IMF realist […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 31, 2015

In Ukraine, the Real Fight is for Europe

By Stephen Blank

Putin’s War is Not Over Donbas, but a New Russian Empire According to Vladimir Putin, Crimea and Ukraine are where the spiritual sources of Russia’s nationhood lie. And he “always saw the Russians and Ukrainians as a single people. I still think this way now.” People observing the crisis triggered by Putin’s aggression against Ukraine […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Mar 31, 2015

Russia Plans Spring Offensive in Ukraine, Warns Ex-NATO Chief Wesley Clark

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Russian-backed separatists are planning a fresh offensive in eastern Ukraine that could come within a matter of months, retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, warned March 30. “What is happening now is preparations for a renewed offensive from the east,” and this could take place following Orthodox Easter, on April 12, […]

NATO Russia