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

2016 Will Be a Make It or Break It Year for Ukraine

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

2016 Will Be a Make It or Break It Year for Ukraine

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

2016 Will Be a Make It or Break It Year for Ukraine

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

Oct 14, 2021

Open Skies agreement will deepen Ukraine’s European integration

By
Peter Dickinson

The Open Skies aviation agreement signed in Kyiv on October 12 will strengthen connectivity between Ukraine and the EU while significantly enhancing Ukraine's ongoing European integration.


Economy & Business

European Union


UkraineAlert

Oct 14, 2021

Old problems threaten Ukraine’s new Bureau of Economic Security

By
Victor Tregubov

Ukraine is currently in the process of reforming the country’s tax police. While there was much initial optimism earlier this year over the creation of a Bureau of Economic Security, familiar concerns are now creeping in as this new agency slowly takes shape.


Corruption

Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Oct 14, 2021

Ukraine hopes industrial parks can attract international investors

By
Oleksii Chernyshov

President Zelenskyy recently signed off on a series of amendments to Ukrainian legislation on industrial parks as part of an initiative to establish a network of 25 flagship industrial parks across the country.


Economy & Business

Trade and tariffs


UkraineAlert

Oct 12, 2021

Medvedev echoes Putin’s dangerous Ukraine obsession

By
Peter Dickinson

Former Russian president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev has penned a vitriolic essay attacking the current Ukrainian leadership that underlines the scale of Moscow's dangerous obsession with the loss of Ukraine.


Conflict

Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Oct 11, 2021

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy must prove he is serious about judicial reform

By
Mykhailo Zhernakov, Nestor Barchuk

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's reputation as a reformer hinges on his ability to deliver on promises to transform Ukraine's discredited judiciary and achieve a breakthrough towards the rule of law in the country.


Corruption

Political Reform


UkraineAlert

Oct 10, 2021

Europe’s energy crisis highlights dangers of reliance on Russia

By
Aura Sabadus

Russia stands accused of exploiting the current gas crisis in Europe as part of Kremlin efforts to strengthen Moscow's position in EU energy markets and push through certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.


European Union

Geopolitics & Energy Security


UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2021

Southern Ukraine’s Bessarabia is poised for a regional revival

By
Andrew D’Anieri

Rural Bessarabia in southwestern Ukraine is physically isolated from the rest of the country and has often been overlooked in national politics but is now undergoing an exciting regional revival.


Economy & Business

Infrastructure Protection


UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2021

Ukraine seeks peace with the past

By
Olesya Khromeychuk

Since becoming independent in 1991, Ukraine had been locked in relentless memory wars. Three decades on, the country may now be moving towards a new era marked by more meaningful commemoration of the troubled past.


Disinformation

Resilience & Society


UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2021

The EU must stop serving as a playground for corrupt Ukrainian oligarchs and officials

By
Daria Kaleniuk

If the EU is serious about helping Ukraine achieve a decisive break with the institutional corruption of the post-Soviet era, it must also stop serving as a playground for corrupt Ukrainian oligarchs and officials.


Corruption

Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Oct 5, 2021

Saakashvili arrest overshadows Georgian ruling party’s election win

By
Peter Dickinson

Georgia’s ruling party Georgian Dream secured victory in October 2 local elections but the imprisonment of returning ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili leaves little realistic chance of an end to political tensions.


Elections

The Caucasus

Load More

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

2016 Will Be a Make It or Break It Year for Ukraine

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

2016 Will Be a Make It or Break It Year for Ukraine

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

2016 Will Be a Make It or Break It Year for Ukraine

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.

Learn more

Follow us on social media
and support our work

support our work

Content

UkraineAlert

Jan 12, 2016

2016 Will Be a Make It or Break It Year for Ukraine

By Alina Polyakova

Two years ago, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians braved the freezing temperatures on Kyiv’s Maidan to protest. Since then, Ukraine has gone through almost too many crises to count: upheaval with the ousting of former President Viktor Yanukovych; Russian occupation of Crimea; a war with Russian forces in the Donbas that continues to simmer; and […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 6, 2016

How Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Sabotaged the Reform Process

By Halya Coynash

Viktor Shokin, Ukraine’s prosecutor general, was upbeat in his New Year’s message to colleagues. While “2015 was a difficult and responsible year for us all,” he wrote, we “carried out unprecedented reform and overhaul of the prosecutor’s system, bringing it closer to European standards.” Almost twenty years after Ukraine promised to reform its prosecutor’s office […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 5, 2016

Ten Reasons Why I’m Optimistic About Ukraine’s Economy in 2016

By Anders Åslund

The outlook for the Ukrainian economy in 2016 is positive. Many important reforms were carried out in 2015. The necessary exchange rate adjustment has occurred and most required bank closures have taken place. The parliament has adopted tax changes and a decent budget for 2016. The debt restructuring deal has postponed foreign debt service. The […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 5, 2016

Putin’s Next Potential Target: The Baltic States

By Stephen Blank

Although Russia’s economy is reeling and its military forces are increasingly engaged in Syria and Ukraine, NATO commanders, governments, and analysts are concerned that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s adventurism has not run its course. Most anxieties focus on the Baltic states as Russia’s next potential military target. Russia has many advantages in the Baltics. The […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 5, 2016

From Ordinary Business Trip to Russian Jail: Former Ukrainian Political Prisoner Exhorts West to Keep Pressure on Russia

By Yuriy Yatsenko

Editor’s Note: Yuriy Yatsenko testified before the US Helsinki Commission in Washington on December 11, 2015. His remarks have been shortened. I am a Ukrainian citizen who was illegally arrested and detained by the Russian Federation for over a year for political reasons. Nadiya Savchenko, Oleg Sentsov, and others who are less known have suffered and […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 4, 2016

Putin’s Fragile Popularity

By Andreas Umland

One of the mantras of today’s Kremlin apologists, as well as of some self-described political realists, is that current Russian President Vladimir Putin is unusually popular among Russians. In the interest of pragmatism, they say, the West should acknowledge this allegedly hard fact and adapt its policies accordingly—i.e., try to rebuild a partnership with Russia’s […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

Jan 4, 2016

What Will 2016 Mean for Ukraine?

By Aaron Korewa

In 2015, Ukraine proved it wasn’t a pushover. The country united in the face of Russian aggression and Russian President Vladimir Putin learned that if he wanted his Novorossiya project, it was going to cost him more than a few little green men. Notably, the war in Ukraine was completely absent from Putin’s December 2015 […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 4, 2016

New Russian Management of the Donbas Signifies Putin May Be Ready to Negotiate

By Anders Åslund

On December 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed one of his close, trusted aides, Boris Gryzlov, Russia’s representative in the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, which concluded the two Minsk agreements on the Donbas in September 2014 and February 2015. This appointment suggests an important change in Russia’s policy toward Ukraine. Gryzlov is a heavyweight […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 22, 2015

Civil Service Reform May Revolutionize Ukraine

By Josh Cohen

It took a staggering sixteen months and it wasn’t easy. The old guard resisted it every step of the way. Ukraine’s parliament passed civil service reform, one of the highest priorities of the Euromaidan’s young reformers, on December 10. The Reanimation Package of Reforms (RPR), a civic group, described the development as “a real miracle.” […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 21, 2015

An Alliance Deterred

By Patrick Stephenson

NATO leaders intended the Alliance’s Trident Juncture military exercises, in part, to send a message to Russia that they would not hesitate to defend allied territory. That intention was commendable. But one wonders how exercises in the western Mediterranean will deter Russian ambitions that lie 3,000 km away in Ukraine and on the borders of […]

NATO Russia
Load More