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

As Ukraine Moves Toward Decentralization, Challenges Loom

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

As Ukraine Moves Toward Decentralization, Challenges Loom

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

As Ukraine Moves Toward Decentralization, Challenges Loom

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 13, 2020

Putin’s pipeline is a strategic weapon. It must be stopped

By
Members of the Ukrainian parliament

As the struggle over the Kremlin's Nord Stream 2 pipeline continues, a group of Ukrainian MPs has issued a joint letter highlighting the international security threat posed by the strategic energy project.


European Union

Geopolitics & Energy Security


UkraineAlert

Oct 12, 2020

UK and Ukraine sign historic post-Brexit free trade deal

By
Vasyl Myroshnychenko

The jury is still out on the economic impact of Brexit, but Ukraine emerged in early October as an unlikely early beneficiary of Britain’s EU exit by signing a landmark partnership agreement including free trade.


Economy & Business

Trade and tariffs


UkraineAlert

Oct 12, 2020

Russo-Ukrainian War: Time for Zelenskyy to turn from populism to pragmatism

By
Taras Kuzio

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy won election last year with populist promises of peace with Russia, but the realities of ongoing Kremlin aggression mean a more pragmatic approach is now necessary.


Conflict

Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding


UkraineAlert

Oct 8, 2020

Ukraine’s reforms in doubt as political climate changes

By
Anders Åslund

A recent reprimand and public expression of no confidence in two key reformers at the National Bank of Ukraine highlights the changing political climate in the country as post-2014 reforms face reversal.


Democratic Transitions

Political Reform


UkraineAlert

Oct 8, 2020

Zelenskyy: Ukraine wants a step-by-step plan towards future EU membership

By
Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offers a positive assessment of the 2020 EU-Ukraine Summit in Brussels and calls for the creation of a step-by-step plan towards Ukraine's future EU membership.


Democratic Transitions

Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Oct 5, 2020

The case for sanctioning Ukraine’s anti-Western MPs

By
Daria Kaleniuk

Many of Ukraine's most prominent anti-Western figures also have considerable business interests in the West. Anti-corruption activists accuse them of hypocrisy and say sanctions are justified.


Corruption

Non-Traditional Threats


UkraineAlert

Oct 1, 2020

Battle on the home front: Care for Ukraine’s veterans

By
Lauren Van Metre

The situation faced by veterans in today’s Ukraine is not just a human-interest story. The reintegration of veterans must be a priority for Ukraine’s government, its allies, and its NATO partners.


Conflict

Human Rights


UkraineAlert

Sep 30, 2020

Russia as aggressor, NATO as objective: Ukraine’s new National Security Strategy

By
Alyona Getmanchuk

Ukraine unveiled a new National Security Strategy in September 2020 that clearly identifies Russia as the enemy and sets out NATO membership as the end goal of the country's security policy.


Conflict

National Security


UkraineAlert

Sep 28, 2020

EU-Ukraine tensions mount ahead of annual summit

By
Peter Dickinson

The EU-Ukraine Summit in Brussels on October 6 is likely to be dominated by concerns that President Zelenskyy is no longer committed to maintaining Ukraine's post-2014 path towards Euro-Atlantic integration.


Corruption

Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Sep 28, 2020

Ukraine must think globally in its hybrid war with Russia

By
Oleksiy Goncharenko

Russia's hybrid war against Ukraine is likely to last decades. Kyiv's best hope of success lies in broadening the context of the conflict and backing international efforts to contain the Kremlin.


Conflict

Non-Traditional Threats

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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

As Ukraine Moves Toward Decentralization, Challenges Loom

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

As Ukraine Moves Toward Decentralization, Challenges Loom

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

As Ukraine Moves Toward Decentralization, Challenges Loom

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

Oct 26, 2015

As Ukraine Moves Toward Decentralization, Challenges Loom

By Alina Polyakova

Kyiv, Ukraine – On Sunday, October 25, Ukrainians went to the polls to elect mayors and representatives to municipal councils. Under normal circumstances, local elections would go more or less unnoticed by international observers, but with no elections taking place in occupied territories, including Crimea and the Luhansk and Donetsk Peoples’ Republics, these are far […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 23, 2015

Imperial Gamble Doesn’t Pay Off: New Book Gets Ukraine’s History Wrong

By Alexei Sobchenko

In his new book, Imperial Gamble: Putin, Ukraine and the New Cold War, the renowned American journalist Marvin Kalb touches on an issue outside his traditional area of expertise in domestic politics: the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and its implications for US-Russia relations.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 21, 2015

Battle to End Pharma Corruption Makes Progress, Needs Push

By Josh Cohen

As the ceasefire in the Donbas takes hold, Ukraine can now face its other existential threat: the endemic corruption that threatens the country’s long-term stability and prosperity. While graft within the Ukrainian government is widespread, corruption is perhaps most threatening in the area of government procurement. Public procurement corruption costs Kyiv billions, with as much […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 21, 2015

Ukrainians Face Another Election Headache

By Irena Chalupa

People are more important than political interests. This party will never betray you. Fair wages and pensions. People, not politicians. Let’s unite for Ukraine! Order and justice. These are just a few of the messages blaring at Kyiv residents from billboards. Ukraine’s capital is awash with campaign tents manned by students and retirees wearing smocks […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 20, 2015

“No Fighting” in Ukraine Is Not “Peace”

By Aaron Korewa

The main problem with the West’s approach to Russian President Vladimir Putin is that it doesn’t seem to know who it’s dealing with. In an excellent article in Foreign Policy, Raymond Tanter states the bleatingly obvious—the Russian leader is nothing but a bully and should be treated as such. While the United States and Europe […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2015

Europe’s Refugee Crisis Shows Ukraine’s Resilience

By Colin Cleary

Ukraine Has Absorbed 1.5 Million Displaced; Soon It Must Employ Them With Europe awash in more than a half-million refugees from Middle Eastern and other wars, it might be easy to overlook Ukraine’s response to its own population—nearly three times the size, at 1.5 million—displaced by the Russian-backed war in the east. More than 18 […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2015

Ukrainians Eager to Go to Polls

By Brian Mefford

In less than a week, Ukrainians go to the polls to elect mayors, city councils, and regional councils, and they’re eager to do so. A recent poll carried out by the International Republican Institute found that 75 percent of Ukrainians are very likely or somewhat likely to vote on October 25. A new law requires […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2015

Ukraine Can Beat Its Political Corruption

By Anders Åslund

Ukraine’s politics suffer from a vicious circle of corruption. Its elections are extremely expensive. Large amounts of gray and black funds are needed to finance them. Criminals, called gray cardinals, handle this black financing, extracted from the state treasury and state companies. To corrupt all, the gray cardinals and their political allies insist on tiny […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 15, 2015

New Movie Reveals Russia’s Attempts to Destroy Ukraine

By Diane Francis

Ukraine is a nation interrupted, its identity and promise stolen by invaders and predators for centuries. Ukraine’s principle oppressor has been, and remains, Russia where leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin propagate the fiction that Ukraine is “little Russia.” But the two are distinctive and the Ukrainian language is as different from Russian as is […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 14, 2015

Why Crimea’s Blockade is Necessary

By Maksym Bugriy

Since September 20, Crimean Tatar activists and other protesters—mostly from Right Sector—have been blockading the flow of goods from mainland Ukraine to Crimea. The Kyiv government has neither formally supported nor criticized the move. The reaction among analysts, observers, and bloggers has been mixed—from enthusiasm to caution and even downright criticism.

Russia Ukraine
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