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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

Feb 6, 2023

Hero Ukrainian medic: “Russia will not stop until it is stopped”

By
Peter Dickinson

Ukrainian military medic Yulia Paievska has a simple message for anyone who still believes in the possibility of a compromise peace with Putin’s Russia. “They will not stop until they are stopped,” she says.


Civil Society


Conflict


UkraineAlert

Feb 6, 2023

Ukrainians are united in rejection of any compromise with the Kremlin

By
Mariia Zolkina

As Russia's invasion of Ukraine approaches the one-year mark, an overwhelming majority of Ukrainians have faith in their country's victory and reject the idea of a compromise peace with the Kremlin, writes Mariia Zolkina.


Conflict


Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Feb 2, 2023

Russian presence at Paris Olympics risks normalizing Ukraine invasion

By
Mark Temnycky

The International Olympic Committee's decision to allow Russian athletes to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics under a neutral flag has sparked outrage from critics who say it risks normalizing the genocidal invasion of Ukraine.


Conflict


France


UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2023

Ukrainian SMEs hold the key to the country’s economic revival

By
Seba Salim, Sarah Page

There is still no end in sight to the Russian invasion of Ukraine but the international community must not delay efforts to revive Ukraine's economy by supporting the country's vibrant SME sector.


Conflict


Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2023

Europe’s last empire: Putin’s Ukraine war exposes Russia’s imperial identity

By
Botakoz Kassymbekova

Vladimir Putin's genocidal invasion of Ukraine has exposed modern Russia's unapologetically imperial identity but could yet lead to the collapse of the Kremlin's broader imperial ambitions, writes Botakoz Kassymbekova.


Belarus


Central Asia


UkraineAlert

Jan 31, 2023

Russia’s cyberwar against Ukraine offers vital lessons for the West

By
Yurii Shchyhol

Ukraine’s experience in countering Russian cyber warfare can provide valuable lessons while offering a glimpse into a future where wars will be waged both by conventional means and increasingly in the borderless realm of cyberspace.


Conflict


Cybersecurity


UkraineAlert

Jan 28, 2023

Poland is leading Europe’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine

By
Diane Francis

Poland was the unsung hero of the recent landmark decision by Berlin and Washington to provide Ukraine with tanks as Polish leadership continues to shape the European response to Russia's genocidal invasion.


Conflict


Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion


UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2023

Russia is losing the energy war as Putin’s winter gas attack backfires

By
Aura Sabadus

Putin expected to use gas exports to blackmail Europe and weaken Western support for Ukraine. Instead, this tactic has backfired disastrously and undermined Russia’s position on European energy markets.


Conflict


Energy Transitions


UkraineAlert

Jan 25, 2023

Tanks are vital but Ukraine will need much more to defeat Putin’s Russia

By
Jeffrey Cimmino, Shelby Magid

The decision by Germany and the United States to supply Ukraine with main battle tanks is an important landmark in international efforts to counter Putin's invasion but much more is required to defeat Russia.


Conflict


Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Jan 25, 2023

Scholz tank drama casts unflattering light on Germany’s Russia problem

By
Diane Francis

After months of debates and delays, Germany finally succumbed to international pressure on January 25 and announced that it would be delivering German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine and allowing others to do so.


Conflict


Defense Industry

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.

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Content

UkraineAlert

Sep 2, 2015

Mr. Lavrov Builds His Dream World

By Adrian Karatnycky

Each summer, as part of ongoing efforts to influence their young, Russia’s government leaders and propagandists head to a conference center on the Klyazma River about 130 miles northeast of Moscow to address the “Terra Scientia” Russian Youth Education Conference. Despite its lofty name, the conference bears little trace of free inquiry. Over the course […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

Sep 2, 2015

In the Face of Russian Aggression in Ukraine, a New US Agenda for Europe

By Stephen Blank

Since the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, the world has seen precious little Western leadership when it comes to confronting Russian President Vladimir Putin—despite US and European Union sanctions, recent efforts to strengthen NATO’s conventional deterrence in Europe, and the first signs of increased defense spending in Europe. Even in the face of plans to send […]

NATO Russia

UkraineAlert

Sep 1, 2015

Frozen Conflict in Moldova’s Transnistria: A Fitting Analogy to Ukraine’s Hybrid War?

By Sergiy Gerasymchuk

History is a great teacher, so it’s no surprise that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and his subsequent Kremlin speech justifying it brought back memories of the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland in 1938. Parallels between Hitler and Putin abound, as do their motivations and the eventual global impact of the two […]

Moldova Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 31, 2015

Outflows of ‘Hot Money’ Exacerbate Europe’s Growing Refugee Crisis

By Diane Francis

The recent collapse in stock markets and the sudden flow of refugees into Europe led world headlines in August—in a convergence of phenomena that are closely linked. Unprecedented flows of hot, or illicit, money are damaging most economies, causing both investors and migrants to flee. Ironically, China has outperformed all other economies, even though it […]

UkraineAlert

Aug 30, 2015

Lviv Welcomes Crimean Tatar Community With Open Arms

By Matthew Kupfer

The Russian annexation of Crimea in March 2014 is widely regarded as a tragedy for Crimean Tatars. But for Adile Namazova, it was also a professional catastrophe. A recent university graduate with near flawless English, Namazova, 22, had been working as a language tutor before annexation. But once Crimea changed hands, travelers stopped coming, food […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 30, 2015

Russian Narrative of Ukraine Conflict Fails to Sway Opinions in Odesa

By Ruben Gzirian

Eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region is strewn with remnants of Russian-made cartridges from AK-74U rifles, littered with the splintered, hollowed-out ruins of Russian-made BTR-80 armored personnel carriers, and scarred with the skeletons of Russian T-74B battle tanks. Yet the Kremlin’s incursion into Ukrainian territory is not isolated to the Donbas. Its influence has also permeated the […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 30, 2015

Ukraine Must Privatize Failing State-Owned Enterprises Quickly

By Anders Åslund

Privatization has generated controversy in every post-communist country. Ministers of privatization are usually accused of heinous crimes, regardless of how impeccably they have performed their jobs. Yet privatization is vital for all such nations, not least for Ukraine. The goal must be to limit state-owned enterprises so that the private sector dominates. The aim isn’t […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 28, 2015

Exiled Russian Lawmaker Ilya Ponomarev: Current US Sanctions Won’t Work

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The United States must expand the scope of its sanctions well beyond Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle if this effort—a response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine—is to have any real impact, says a Russian lawmaker. “The [US] government machine is doing what it can do, but […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 27, 2015

To Prevent Global Catastrophe, Putin Must Go

By Leonid Gozman

The minority of Russians who have not been zombified by official propaganda and who still have any clue about what is really going on in the world—rather than just on television—already know Russia is hurtling toward full-blown catastrophe, though the details might be up for debate. Will the collapse come next month, or more like […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 27, 2015

Things Are Looking Up for Ukraine: Debt Deal Reached

By Anders Åslund

Today Ukraine received great news. Private owners of $19 billion of Ukraine’s Eurobonds have agreed to a substantial debt restructuring that will give Ukraine much-needed relief. The high bond yields have been sharply reduced, the bonds’ maturities have been prolonged, and the face value of the bonds has been reduced by 20 percent. According to […]

Eastern Europe Russia