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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

Aug 11, 2025

Alaska Summit: Trump must press Putin over future Ukrainian security

By
John E. Herbst

Trump-Putin Alaska Summit: If Moscow insists on the acceptance of Russian control over Ukrainian land for a ceasefire, it must accept strong measures to bolster Ukrainian security as well, writes John E. Herbst.

Conflict
European Union


UkraineAlert

Aug 7, 2025

Ukraine’s expanding robot army can help address manpower shortages

By
David Kirichenko

Robotic systems are in many ways an ideal battlefield solution for Ukraine as the country seeks ways to leverage its proven tech prowess in order to defend itself in a grueling war of attrition against a far larger enemy, writes David Kirichenko.

Conflict
Defense Industry


UkraineAlert

Aug 5, 2025

Digital democracy is the key to staging wartime elections in Ukraine

By
Brian Mefford

With no end in sight to Russia’s invasion, Ukraine cannot afford to postpone all elections indefinitely. With this in mind, it is time to start the process of digitalizing Ukraine’s democracy, writes Brian Mefford.

Civil Society
Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Aug 5, 2025

Ukraine’s anti-corruption reforms are more vital than ever during wartime

By
Olena Halushka

The recent wave of nationwide protests in defense of the country’s anti-corruption reforms served as a timely reminder that Ukraine’s democratic instincts remain strong, even amid the horrors of Russia’s invasion and the escalating bombardment of Ukrainian cities, writes Olena Halushka.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 30, 2025

A Ukraine without Ukrainians: Putin is erasing Europe’s largest nation

By
Peter Dickinson

Russia is systematically erasing all traces of Ukrainian national identity throughout occupied Ukraine as Vladimir Putin pursues an extreme form of eliminationist imperialism in the heart of twenty-first century Europe, writes Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 30, 2025

Ukraine’s democracy is the key to the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration

By
Alyona Getmanchuk

While Ukraine currently faces a range of unique challenges, this cannot justify neglecting democratic principles. On the contrary, defending the democratic gains of recent decades is vital if further progress toward Euro-Atlantic integration is to be achieved, writes Alyona Getmanchuk.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 29, 2025

Trump offered Putin victory in Ukraine. Why did Putin refuse?

By
Peter Dickinson

Trump thought he could get a peace deal in Ukraine by offering Putin generous terms that amounted to a Russian victory. But Putin rejected Trump’s offer because he cannot accept anything less that Ukraine’s complete capitulation, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Jul 29, 2025

US ambassador: China believes it is waging a proxy war through Russia

By
Mykola Bielieskov

US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker has attacked China for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and accused Beijing of waging a “proxy war” to distract the West, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

China
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 25, 2025

Ukraine’s supporters should prioritize unity and focus on defeating Russia

By
Pavlo Grod

Wartime Ukraine needs unity. Even when the country’s supporters bitterly disagree, it is important to remember exactly what is at stake, writes Pavlo Grod.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Jul 24, 2025

Wartime protests prove Ukraine’s democratic instincts are still strong

By
Peter Dickinson

This week’s nationwide protests are a reminder that Ukraine’s grassroots democratic instincts remain exceptionally strong despite the current wartime conditions in the country, writes Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society
Conflict

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.

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

Nov 18, 2014

Ukraine’s New Government: The Names Emerge

By New Atlanticist

We can expect Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, to meet this week to vote on the country’s new government. The political parties of President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and their allies are close to completing negotiations and announcing their choices for the new Cabinet of Ministers. Critically, a delegation is in Kyiv from […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 18, 2014

Russians’ Once-Secretive Commander in Ukraine is On the Air

By Irena Chalupa

Colonel Igor Girkin Presses Kremlin to Expand Its War Through Southern and Eastern Ukraine “The Shooter” is back. Colonel Igor Girkin, the career Russian intelligence officer who disappeared three months ago from his leading role in the Russian-sponsored war against Ukraine, has burst anew into Russia’s news headlines. He has given a spate of interviews […]

Eastern Europe Russia

UkraineAlert

Nov 12, 2014

Putin’s Project Sparta

By Adrian Karatnycky

As the US Congress Reconvenes, It and Europe Must Respond to the Kremlin’s Coming Offensive in Ukraine Russia has moved a massive wave of tanks, armored personnel carriers, and artillery into Ukraine’s Donbas region in recent days, accompanied by new uniformed troops without insignia, to bolster the armed forces of the Russian-sponsored Donetsk and Lugansk […]

Eastern Europe Russia

UkraineAlert

Nov 10, 2014

How Russia Sells Itself to the Long-Demoralized People of Donbas

By Irena Chalupa

In Stakhanov, a Cossack Rebel and Local Radio Mix Nostalgias for Russia’s Greatness and Soviet Goodness While analysts of Russia’s assault on Ukraine debate the veiled question of President Vladimir Putin’s motives, little is hidden about how the Kremlin and its proxy forces are selling themselves to the long-demoralized people of southeastern Ukraine. As Moscow […]

Eastern Europe Russia

UkraineAlert

Nov 7, 2014

For Putin, Ukraine’s Elections Backfired. So the War Is On Again.

By James Rupert

Analysts: Moscow Fights Now with Mercenaries and Local Trainees, But in 20 Weeks May Again Send Its Own Troops The Russian-Ukrainian conflict in southeastern Ukraine is sliding back quickly into all-out war. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said this morning that its forces have killed 200 separatist fighters and destroyed four tanks, plus artillery in the past […]

Eastern Europe Russia

UkraineAlert

Nov 6, 2014

Ukraine’s Need for Fast Reform Means Government Has No Time for Infighting

By Sabine Freizer

Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk Must Cut Short Their Recent Signs of Rivalry As Ukraine’s new leading political parties renew their talks today, they can waste no time in forming the government that now must grapple with a financial emergency, economic crisis, and war in the east. They must avoid acrimony or drawn-out negotiations, yet some signs […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 3, 2014

Ukraine’s New Government: Here’s What to Expect

By New Atlanticist

Amid Horse-Trading by Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk, a New Parliament Speaker Is Likely The Atlantic Council’s Kyiv-based senior fellow, Brian Mefford, writes on the likely makeup of Ukraine’s post-election government. His key observations are below, and you can read his detailed analysis on his own blog.

Elections Politics & Diplomacy

UkraineAlert

Nov 3, 2014

Russian-Ukraine Gas Deal Gives Moscow the Leverage and Europe the Energy

By John E. Herbst

Ukrainians Will Get Gas, Too, But Their Cost and Risk of Cutoffs Remain High European Union leaders in Brussels may be celebrating the gas deal signed Thursday between Ukraine and Russia as an assurance of Russian gas supplies to Europe this winter, but Ukrainians can at best take cold comfort from the agreement. EU Energy […]

Eastern Europe Energy & Environment

UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2014

Ukraine Gas Deal May Show That the West’s Sanctions on Russia Are Working

By James Rupert

The gas supply deal signed in Brussels yesterday among Russia, Ukraine and the European Union “is perhaps the clearest indication yet that sanctions imposed on Russia are working in terms of changing Russia’s behavior,” writes Timothy Ash, an economist who directs emerging markets strategy at Standard Bank in London.

Eastern Europe Energy & Environment

UkraineAlert

Oct 30, 2014

Russian-Backed ‘People’s Republics’ in Ukraine Prepare Elections for Sunday

By James Rupert

Donetsk, Lugansk Vote for ‘Parliaments’ Violates Truce and Raises Risks, Say Analysts The Russian-backed, miniature, “people’s republics” declared in southeastern Ukraine are preparing to elect parliaments and heads of state on Sunday, a step backed by Moscow to consolidate their self-declared statehood. Those elections promise to further undermine the already wobbly political deal that underpins […]

Russia Ukraine