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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 4, 2026

Winter is coming: Ukraine warns of escalating Russian ballistic strikes

By
Maksym Beznosiuk, Will Dixon

Ukrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal has warned that Moscow will expand attacks on the country’s civilian population and critical infrastructure in the coming months as Putin seeks to finally break Ukraine’s resistance, write Maksym Beznosiuk and Will Dixon.


Conflict


Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Aug 4, 2026

Ukrainian drones alone will not force Putin to the negotiating table

By
Christopher Isajiw

Ukraine's escalating long-range drone strike campaign targeting military and industrial sites deep inside Russia is disrupting the Kremlin war machine but will not be enough to push Putin toward meaningful peace talks, writes Christopher Isajiw.


Defense Technologies


Drones


UkraineAlert

Aug 3, 2026

As Ukraine regains the initiative from Russia, Europe must seize the moment

By
Lesia Ogryzko

Ukraine’s recent progress offers a rare window of opportunity to increase the pressure on Putin and push the Russian leader toward credible peace talks to end Europe’s largest war since World War II, writes Lesia Ogryzko.


Conflict


Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Jul 30, 2026

Putin’s pitiful naval parade highlights his inability to stop Ukrainian drones

By
Peter Dickinson

Russian President Vladimir Putin has faced widespread ridicule following dramatically downgraded Navy Day celebrations that underlined his inability to secure Russian airspace against Ukrainian drones, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict


Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Jul 30, 2026

Ukraine’s reconstruction: Advancing from solidarity to shared strategic interests

By
Olga Usenko

The future success of Ukraine's reconstruction will increasingly depend on Kyiv’s ability to promote participation in the country’s recovery not only as a moral imperative, but also as a shared economic and security interest, writes Olga Usenko.


Conflict


Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Jul 28, 2026

Wartime Ukraine’s people power protests are Putin’s worst nightmare

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukrainians have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest the dismissal of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. The protests are a reminder of the vibrant democratic culture that provoked Putin's invasion, writes Peter Dickinson.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 23, 2026

Ukraine leads European efforts to counter Russia’s growing ballistic missile threat

By
Maksym Beznosiuk, William Dixon

As the Russian army struggles to advance in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin is increasingly relying on ballistic missiles to target the Ukrainian civilian population and maintain the momentum of his faltering invasion, write Maksym Beznosiuk and William Dixon.


Conflict


Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Jul 23, 2026

Putin’s invasion comes home as Ukraine expands attacks inside Russia

By
David Kirichenko

With Russia still showing no signs of ending its invasion, Ukraine is expanding a strategic bombing campaign that aims to undermine the logistics supporting the Kremlin war machine, writes David Kirichenko.


Conflict


Drones


UkraineAlert

Jul 21, 2026

Ukraine is in danger of losing its innovation edge over Russia

By
Miro Sedlák

President Zelenskyy's recent decision to dismiss tech-savvy Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov is one of a number of factors that are threatening to erode Ukraine’s fragile innovation advantage over Russia, writes Miro Sedlák.


Conflict


Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Jul 21, 2026

Civilian control over the armed forces is crucial for Ukraine’s future

By
Olena Tregub

A political crisis erupted in wartime Ukraine last week over the dismissal of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov following a power struggle with Ukrainian army Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, writes Olena Tregub.


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

Nov 23, 2015

Ukraine Is Not a Bargaining Chip for Putin’s Support Against ISIS

By Ihor Kozak

A month and a half ago, while traveling along the frontlines of eastern Ukraine, I predicted that the Minsk II ceasefire agreements would not be respected by the Kremlin and its puppet Peoples’ Republics. It was clear to me—in spite of a tentative ceasefire put in place on October 2—that the situation in the Donbas […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 18, 2015

Making Sense of Ukraine’s Local Elections: Voters Put Multiple Parties in Office

By Brian Mefford

As the ballots are counted in Ukraine’s November 15 runoff elections, the preliminary results show no national mandate or overarching themes. Instead, in a positive step for the country’s democratic development, voters dispersed power widely and put multiple political parties into office. Here’s a quick rundown of the big races and the big surprises: Kyiv: […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 17, 2015

Putin Transformed from Stubborn Holdout to Star at G20

By Anders Åslund

At the G-20 meeting in Antalya, Turkey, on November 16, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin proposed that Russia could restructure the $3 billion Eurobond that he lent former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in December 2013. It comes due on December 20. This was a sudden change of policy. Until that moment, the Kremlin had insisted on […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 16, 2015

The Economics of Rebellion in Eastern Ukraine

By Yuri M. Zhukov

New research demonstrates why the conflict has not spread beyond Donetsk and Luhansk In April 2014, angry mobs and armed men stormed administrative buildings and police stations in eastern Ukraine, waving Russian flags and proclaiming the establishment of “Peoples’ Republics” in Donetsk and Luhansk. At the time, some observers predicted that the “pro-Russian” uprising would […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 16, 2015

Winning Energy Battle Just as Important as Fight in Eastern Ukraine

By Andrian Prokip

The West has focused on Ukraine’s two existential crises: the war in the east and Ukraine’s troubled economy. It’s understandable, but now is the time for Ukraine to press hard on energy reform because Russia uses energy to exert influence over Ukraine and the energy sector has been a black hole of corruption in the […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 16, 2015

Slowly But Surely Kyiv Comes Around

By Alexander Motyl

How has Ukraine changed since the Euromaidan Revolution? In attempting to answer this question, I’ve used the governance-related categories in Freedom House’s Nations in Transit study, which tracks the reform record of post-Communist countries in Europe and Eurasia, and supplemented them with a few of my own. (Full disclosure: I’ve been involved in the Nations […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 11, 2015

Will Saakashvili’s Defeat in Odesa Be His Ukrainian Waterloo?

By Brian Mefford

Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov trounced Solidarity Party’s Sasha Borovik by 53-26 percent in Ukraine’s local elections October 25. Observers reported carousel voting, multiple voting lists, exit poll workers agitating for candidates, and a suspiciously slow vote count. The race for Odesa mayor was a proxy war between Oblast Governor Mikheil Saakashvili and oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi, […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 11, 2015

A Close (and Surprisingly Positive) Encounter with Odesa’s New Police

By Vladislav Davidzon

The reorganization and reform of Ukraine’s catastrophically corrupt police force was the top priority when President Petro Poroshenko appointed Eka Zguladze first deputy Interior Minister of Ukraine. Poroshenko wants to emulate the relative success that Georgia’s Rose Revolution reformers garnered in modernizing their small post-Soviet country. Zguladze is just one of the many Georgians who […]

The Caucasus Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 11, 2015

Failing on the Ukrainian Battlefield, Russia Turns to Terrorism

By Aaron Korewa

To understand how Russia conducts its foreign policy, simply look at what the Kremlin accuses everyone else of doing. Unlike the Soviet Union, which operated under a coherent ideology, the Russian government under President Vladimir Putin seems to believe that everybody is a cynical power player, and that the West is simply hypocritical about it. […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 10, 2015

Judiciary Reforms Take a Major Step Forward in Ukraine

By Joshua Solomon

As conflict flares up on Ukraine’s eastern front, a different campaign rages in the conference rooms of Kyiv. The administration of President Petro Poroshenko is overhauling the Ukrainian state, amending everything from the constitution to the tax code. The most important reform may be the creation of an independent judiciary. As Anders Åslund pointed out this […]

Ukraine