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

Russia Intervention in Syria Has Its Limits

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

Russia Intervention in Syria Has Its Limits

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

Russia Intervention in Syria Has Its Limits

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

Jan 3, 2018

President Trump One Year On: Better for Russia or Ukraine?

By
Peter Dickinson

As Donald J. Trump took the oath of office in January 2017, there was a tangible sense of panic in Kyiv. Most analysts were extremely gloomy about the prospects for US-Ukrainian ties, with many predicting that Ukraine would be the primary victim of the Trump administration’s ambitious foreign policy. At the time, these grim forecasts […]


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jan 2, 2018

Nine Things Ukraine Should Do in 2018

By
Olena Prokopenko and Christina Parandii

In September 2017, Parliamentary Speaker Andriy Parubiy branded the new political season “the autumn of reforms.” His prediction was partly right and partly wrong. Parliament did deliver on some overdue issues; however, the recent attacks on anticorruption institutions overshadowed a number of positive achievements. As Ukraine enters 2018, a year which precedes the presidential and […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jan 2, 2018

Which Will Be Europe’s Poorest Country? Ukraine or Moldova

By
Anders Åslund

A year ago, I expressed my hope that “2017 should be the year when Ukraine’s economy takes off.” It should have been, but it was not. In the last quarter of 2016, Ukraine’s GDP grew by 4.8 percent. Alas, in each of the ensuing four quarters, the growth rate declined and GDP grew by only […]


Moldova

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Dec 21, 2017

It’s the Holiday Season Again. Will Ukraine Be Ready for the Next Cyberattack?

By
Vera Zimmerman

Experts anticipate a new cyberattack on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure this month; they have observed increased activity from the same hackers involved in a previous cyberattack. In the last two years, cyberattacks on Ukraine’s power grid coincided with the winter holidays, a sensitive time with a high demand for critical infrastructure. A cyberattack may target civilians […]


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Dec 21, 2017

People Are Wrong about the War in the Donbas, Says US Envoy

By
Melinda Haring

2017 has been the most violent year of the conflict in eastern Ukraine since it began, according to Kurt Volker, US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations. “A lot of people think that this has somehow turned into a sleepy, frozen conflict and it’s stable and now we have…a ceasefire,” Volker said on December 19 during […]


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Dec 21, 2017

Why Yegor Soboliev is Still Optimistic and Even Joyful about Ukraine’s Future

By
Diane Francis

The claw back of reforms in Ukraine is alarming, and the latest blow was the dismissal on December 7 of hardworking Yegor Soboliev as chairman of parliament’s anti-corruption committee. A former investigative journalist and Maidan activist turned politician, he has been at the forefront of reforms such as electronic asset declarations for state officials, the […]


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Dec 20, 2017

Backsliding on Democracy Imperils Security in Ukraine and Poland

By
Stephen Blank

Poland and Ukraine are frontline states for European security. That fact alone makes their mutual backsliding away from democratic reform—the indispensable precondition for their revival and security—so dangerous. The Polish government seems to want to return to its interwar model; at that time, it repressed its minorities and ultimately failed, ending up bereft of friends […]


Poland

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Dec 19, 2017

Ukraine’s Oligarchs Still Control the Media. Will Anyone Ever Challenge Them?

By
Vitalii Rybak

The oligarchs still control the airwaves in Ukraine. Ten of eleven national television channels are directly or indirectly connected to politicians and oligarchs. More than 75 percent of Ukrainians regularly watch TV channels owned by Ukrainian oligarchs Viktor Pinchuk, Ihor Kolomoisky, Dmytro Firtash, and Rinat Akhmetov. In radio, the situation is even worse: the top […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Dec 18, 2017

What Ukraine Urgently Needs Isn’t What You Think

By
Adrian Karatnycky

In a recent article the talented journalist Vitaliy Sych, editor of Ukraine’s reformist weekly Novoe Vremya, posits the emergence of a war between old Ukraine and new Ukraine. He is right. Recent months have seen the escalation of a fight that pits anticorruption institutions and activists against segments of the state and ruling elite. But […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Dec 18, 2017

Maybe We Were Wrong about Gas Reform

By
Melinda Haring

It’s no secret that the Atlantic Council has been bullish on Ukraine’s reforms. In particular, we often cite gas reform as the one that massively curbed corruption in Ukraine since the Euromaidan. But after an hour-long conversation with Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev on December 8, I came away with a different picture. Since the thirty-nine-year-old […]


Ukraine

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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

Russia Intervention in Syria Has Its Limits

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

Russia Intervention in Syria Has Its Limits

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

Russia Intervention in Syria Has Its Limits

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

Jan 20, 2016

Russia Intervention in Syria Has Its Limits

By Sam Skove

While Russia’s intervention in Syria appears to have helped Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime claw its way back from the brink of defeat, the Kremlin’s gambit is in many ways a limited one. Russian President Vladimir Putin, thanks to technical and political constraints, cannot significantly ramp up his forces in the region. This means that […]

Russia Syria

UkraineAlert

Jan 20, 2016

A Conflict Erupts Online Between Ukrainians and Russians

By Alexei Sobchenko

A vicious diatribe recently exploded on the Russian Internet between several Ukrainian journalists and bloggers on one side, and prominent Russian opposition bloggers and activists on the other. The discourse reflects the deep divide between the two nations, which has continued to deteriorate since the events of 2014. The debate has been brewing for a […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 19, 2016

What Minsk Accord? Kremlin-Backed Militants Hold Luhansk Journalist Hostage for Year

By Halya Coynash

Eleven months after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s agreement in Minsk that all prisoners must be released, Kremlin-backed militants are continuing to hold a number of prisoners, including many civilians, like 31-year-old Luhansk journalist Maria Varfolomeyeva. Varfolomeyeva worked for the local news website Svobodny Reporter and has worked as a fixer for various national media, including […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 19, 2016

How to Help Ukraine: An Alternative Vision

By Vladislav Inozemtsev

Three former US Ambassadors to Ukraine recently wrote an op-ed article in the New York Times (“Investing in Ukraine’s Future,” December 30, 2015) that called for an increase in Western financial assistance to Ukraine and argued that the country is now “teetering on the brink.” I strongly support their willingness to stay firm against a […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 19, 2016

How Ukraine’s Reformers Beat the Pharma Mafia

By Josh Cohen

A little over a month after US Vice President Joe Biden told Ukrainian legislators that graft was eating Ukraine “like a cancer,” an order from Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers struck a decisive blow against pharmaceutical corruption. This order outsources the purchasing of numerous medicines for seriously ill Ukrainians from the Ministry of Health to respected international […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 18, 2016

Seven Key Reforms for Ukraine in 2016

By Anders Åslund

After Orthodox Christmas, I spent a few days in Kyiv. It is quite striking how the mood has changed in a positive direction. The 2016 budget and the modified tax code were adopted on December 24. After two weeks of well-deserved rest, there is a sudden realization that Ukraine accomplished many important economic reforms in […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 13, 2016

New Poll Confirms Growing Mistrust Between Donbas Residents and Kyiv

By Michael Druckman and Katie LaRoque

Ukrainians elected more than 10,000 mayors and 160,000 city councilmembers in local elections on October 25. It was the third nationwide election since the Euromaidan Revolution. A new International Republican Institute (IRI) poll of the Ukrainian-controlled territories of the Donbas region (i.e., Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts) reveals that only 26 percent of respondents believe the […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 13, 2016

Free the Kremlin’s 20 Ukrainian Hostages Now

By Maria Tomak

Soviet dissident Vasyl Stus—an important Ukrainian poet of the twentieth century—never lived to see the fall of the Soviet Union. He died in a prison camp near Perm in 1985. As I read one of Stus’s poems about Siberia, I realized that Gennadiy Afanasyev, a 25-year-old Crimean photographer exiled to the Sytkyvkar penal camp in […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 13, 2016

The Complex History of the Ukrainian Nation: A Review of “The Gates of Europe”

By Alexei Sobchenko

During a time of war, history becomes a weapon used to justify claims and raise soldiers’ spirits. In this case, successful histories are simple, unequivocal, and confirmed by the experiences of past centuries. The current Kremlin version of history of the relationship between Russia and Ukraine fully meets these criteria. According to Moscow, there was […]

Poland Russia

UkraineAlert

Jan 12, 2016

Ukraine Should Do More to Combat Human Trafficking

By Luke A. Drabyn

Ukraine remains one of Europe’s most notorious sources of human trafficking. Since 1991, over 160,000 men, women, and children have been exploited for labor, sex, forced begging, and organ removal, according to a mid-2015 report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Ukraine’s Ministry of Social Policy, with recommendations from domestic and international nongovernmental organizations, […]

Ukraine
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