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

Battle to End Pharma Corruption Makes Progress, Needs Push

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

Battle to End Pharma Corruption Makes Progress, Needs Push

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

Battle to End Pharma Corruption Makes Progress, Needs Push

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

Nov 8, 2016

Here’s How to Fix Public Broadcasting in Ukraine

By
Roman Shutov

Zurab Alasania’s resignation from the position of director general of the National TV and Radio Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (NTU) has roused concerns about the future of public broadcasting reform in Ukraine. Although some experts believe it is already too late to reverse reforms, the coming months will determine the future of public broadcasting just […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Nov 7, 2016

Four Swift Blows to Putin’s Influence in Europe

By
John E. Herbst

Moscow retains substantial influence in Europe. However, its ability to leverage that influence against Ukraine appears to be declining, as four decisions over the past two months illustrate. Moscow’s intervention in Syria is weakening the Kremlin’s position vis a vis Ukraine in the views of European policymakers. This was evident on October 12 at the […]


European Union

International Organizations


UkraineAlert

Nov 2, 2016

Why the Revelation of Officials’ Cash, Cars, and a Church Will Change Ukraine for Good

By
Anders Åslund

In a bout of extraordinary transparency, 50,000 Ukrainian officials have declared their assets and incomes and it is easily accessible to the interested public. A staggering amount of wealth has been revealed and this very act is likely to have changed Ukraine for good. As declarations arrived on the publicly accessible register, it recorded the […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Nov 1, 2016

Erdogan: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Russian Encirclement

By
Stephen Blank

Less than six months ago, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly complained that the Black Sea had become a Russian lake and sought regional and NATO cooperation against this threat. Russia and Turkey’s long-standing relationship was on the rocks, especially after Turkey had shot down a Russian fighter plane over Syria in November 2015. In […]


Russia

Turkey


UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2016

United Russia: Party of Crooks and Thieves, and Then Some

By
Ilya Yashin

To international observers, Russia’s ruling party might appear to be a typical political organization. But in fact, there is a deep connection between Russian President Vladimir Putin’s political party, United Russia, and organized crime. The party has become riddled with corruption and lawlessness, and the way to fortune and unbridled power in Russia today is […]


Russia


UkraineAlert

Oct 27, 2016

Why Is Ukraine’s Political Class Trying to Roll Back Reforms?

By
Josh Cohen

Since the Euromaidan revolution, Ukraine’s leaders have repeatedly committed themselves to fighting graft. Former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk promised that all corrupt officials would be prosecuted, current Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman vowed an “intolerance of corruption,” and President Petro Poroshenko campaigned as a reformer who would “wipe the country clean” of endemic graft. Despite these […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 26, 2016

More Proof Ukraine is Changing: Opaque Defense Sector Embraces Reform

By
Oksana Bedratenko

In December 2015, the anticorruption watchdog Transparency International warned that Ukraine’s defense sector faces “a high risk of corruption.” TI named the country’s opaque procurement process as the highest-risk area for corruption. Assessing the defense spheres of NATO members and partner states, TI gave Ukraine a D on an A to F scale, primarily for […]


NATO

Russia


UkraineAlert

Oct 26, 2016

Don’t Expect Quick Resolution to Europe’s Only Active War

By
Vera Zimmerman

The most disputed point about the Minsk agreements has been whether to hold local elections in the Donbas before Ukraine regains control of its border with Russia, or after. Ukraine has insisted that security and the return of the border should precede elections, while pro-Russian separatists and Moscow have been pushing for the opposite, as […]


France

Germany


UkraineAlert

Oct 25, 2016

The Doctor Is In: Ukraine’s New Health Minister Already Shaking Up Sclerotic System

By
Michael Getto

Health care in Ukraine has not worked in the past—not for hospitals, clinics, doctors or nurses, and most important, not for the Ukrainian people, regardless of where they live or work, unless they are fortunate enough to pay under the table to receive the most basic care. Entrenched, bureaucratic, and corrupt interests, wielding a combination […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 24, 2016

What Can the West Do to Get Putin’s Attention?

By
Christopher A. Hartwell and Andreas Umland

The Case for Smarter Sanctions on Russia What should be done about an increasingly aggressive Russia? The past few weeks have brought more evidence of Moscow’s moves away from international norms and law. From continued denials of complicity in the MH17 tragedy and the bombing of a humanitarian convoy in Syria, to Russian President Vladimir […]


Russia

Ukraine

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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

Battle to End Pharma Corruption Makes Progress, Needs Push

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

Battle to End Pharma Corruption Makes Progress, Needs Push

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

Battle to End Pharma Corruption Makes Progress, Needs Push

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 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

UkraineAlert

Oct 14, 2015

Made in Moscow: Religious Freedom Abuses Continue in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine

By Mary Ann Glendon and Katrina Lantos Swett

“We cannot stand by when the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a nation is flagrantly violated,” US President Barack Obama said on September 28 at the UN General Assembly. He was condemning Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its aggressive moves in eastern Ukraine. Much of the world has decried these acts and their most visible […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 14, 2015

For Decentralization to Work, Reformers Must Support Legislation for Strong Local Governance

By Joshua Solomon

As the August 31 grenade attacks, rioting, and violent protests at Ukraine’s Parliament—the Verkhovna Rada—demonstrated quite literally, the Ukrainian decentralization effort is an explosive issue. Constitutional amendments granting local communities greater governing responsibilities have sparked widespread criticism, both in Ukraine and in the West. Some warn that the new system will excessively empower the president […]

Ukraine
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