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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

Oct 24, 2024

North Korean troops could help Putin avoid a risky Russian mobilization

By
Olivia Yanchik

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has turned to his north Korean ally for troops to help cover his own army’s catastrophic losses in Ukraine and avoid a politically risky second wave of mobilization in Russia itself, writes Olivia Yanchik.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Oct 22, 2024

Ukrainian journalist who exposed Russian occupation dies in Kremlin captivity

By
Mercedes Sapuppo

The death of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna in Kremlin custody serves as a chilling reminder of the war crimes being committed throughout Russian-occupied Ukraine, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Oct 22, 2024

Western leaders offer underwhelming response to Zelenskyy’s victory plan

By
Aleksander Cwalina

Western leaders have failed to rally behind Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s victory plan, highlighting the limitations of Western support for the Ukrainian war effort, writes Aleksander Cwalina.

Conflict
France


UkraineAlert

Oct 22, 2024

Axis of Autocrats: North Korea’s escalating role in Russia’s Ukraine War

By
Olena Tregub

North Korean troops are reportedly set to join the Russian invasion of Ukraine. If confirmed, this would represent the latest escalation in North Korea’s support for Vladimir Putin’s imperial aggression, writes Olena Tregub.

Conflict
Defense Technologies


UkraineAlert

Oct 17, 2024

Russia is indoctrinating schoolchildren throughout occupied Ukraine

By
Tetiana Kotelnykova

The Kremlin is conducting a massive indoctrination campaign throughout schools in Russian-occupied Ukraine that underlines Moscow’s intention to erase Ukrainian national identity, writes Tetiana Kotelnykova.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Oct 15, 2024

Ukraine may allow drone exports in bid to support domestic producers

By
Marcel Plichta

Ukraine may allow the export of drones in a bid to boost domestic production amid limited state procurement budgets and to prevent Ukrainian drone manufacturers from relocating abroad, writes Marcel Plichta.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Oct 15, 2024

As the US election nears, anxiety is mounting in Ukraine

By
Katherine Spencer

Few countries have more at stake in the coming US presidential election than Ukraine, which is heavily dependent on US aid to sustain its fight against Russia’s ongoing invasion, writes Kate Spencer.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Oct 10, 2024

Putin doesn’t have enough troops to defeat Ukraine and defend Russia

By
Peter Dickinson

The Ukrainian invasion of Russia’s Kursk region has proved that Putin’s attempt to conquer Ukraine has left his army dangerously overstretched and unable to defend Russia itself, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Oct 8, 2024

The West must learn defense tech lessons on the Ukrainian battlefield

By
Edward Verona

The Russia-Ukraine War is the most technologically advanced war in history but Western military strategists and weapons developers risk missing out on key lessons due to excessive caution, writes Edward Verona.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Oct 8, 2024

Ending Russian impunity: Why Ukraine needs justice as well as security

By
Kateryna Odarchenko, Lesia Zaburanna

Failing to hold Russia accountable for war crimes committed in Ukraine would set a disastrous precedent for the future of international security and would create the conditions for more war, write Kateryna Odarchenko and Lesia Zaburanna.

Civil Society
Conflict

spotlight

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Content

UkraineAlert

Jul 8, 2015

Repression of Crimean Tatars Intensifies Under Russia, Says New Turkish Report

By Melinda Haring

Russian authorities have forced Crimean Tatars to become Russian citizens and curtailed their freedoms of speech, language, education, and residence—as well as their right to a fair trial. That’s according to an independent group of Turkish scholars sent to Crimea to investigate human rights violations after Russia annexed the peninsula on March 18, 2014.

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 8, 2015

Here’s Why Armenia Is Not Ukraine

By Sabine Freizer

The Electric Yerevan protest officially ended July 7, two weeks after it began as a reaction to the Armenian government’s 16.7 percent increase in electricity prices. But the social movement behind it will likely continue influencing Armenia until the country makes serious political reforms. Thousands marched on Yerevan’s Baghramyan Avenue—a main artery fronting the presidential […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

Jul 6, 2015

Ukraine Is More Important Than Greece

By Anders Åslund

For one year, Russia has pursued a long, costly war of aggression against Ukraine. Its objective is obvious: to destabilize Ukraine so that the new democratic regime fails. Therefore, the West should adjust its goals accordingly to offer Ukraine financial support. The Kremlin has presented one false objective after the other for this aggression. On […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 6, 2015

History as a Weapon of Mass Deception

By Ruben Gzirian

Leading up to the seventieth anniversary of Russia’s victory over Nazi Germany on May 9, seemingly every Russian media outlet buzzed about the unveiling of the country’s new premier tank, the Armata T-14. Outfitted with an advanced remote-controlled armed turret, a new 125-mm 2A82-1M smoothbore cannon, the new tank was rumored to come with a […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 2, 2015

Here’s How the Kremlin Manufactured a Civil War in Ukraine

By Alina Polyakova

The war in eastern Ukraine is a Kremlin-manufactured conflict. The arrival of “little green men” in Crimea in February 2014 transformed the conflict from a domestic altercation between citizens and their government to an international crisis. Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly acknowledged in a government-sponsored documentary that he carefully planned and orchestrated the military takeover of […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 1, 2015

Putin Isn’t Winging It

By Walter Zaryckyj

After US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Sochi on May 12, a barrage of articles urged Western leaders to provide Russian President Vladimir Putin with an off-ramp for his various Ukrainian adventures. Even more disheartening than the volume was the growing diversity of reasons for giving Putin a pass. At least three arguments […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 1, 2015

Wake Up Europe. Peace Doesn’t Preserve Itself

By Stephen Blank

Amid multiple signs of an impending battle in Ukraine, NATO and Ukraine have stepped up their response. But so has Russia. Ukrainian officials claim to have 60,000 troops in the field against an estimated 54,000 Russian forces in the Donbas. A large-scale conventional theater in the Donbas is a real danger this summer. But Moscow […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 1, 2015

Why Ukraine Struggles to Reform

By Chris Miller

Listen to the proclamations of Ukraine’s political leaders and you might think the country is in the midst of rapid change. On June 4, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko declared that “reforms are the key word…The countdown of the period of reforms has started.” There is much talk of reform, but the reality is less impressive. […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jun 29, 2015

Exposing Russian Disinformation

By John B. Emerson

Editor’s note: Ambassador John B. Emerson gave the opening remarks at “Exposing Russian Disinformation in the 21st Century,” a conference sponsored by the Atlantic Council, the European Council on Foreign Relations, and the Heinrich Böll Foundation on June 25, 2015 in Berlin. Emerson’s remarks have been shortened below. The full version is available here. Guten […]

Germany
Russia

UkraineAlert

Jun 29, 2015

Youth platform is transforming Eastern Ukraine

By Melinda Haring

Freedom Home's platform is unique in eastern Ukraine, and its organizers want to make it sustainable.

Conflict
Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding