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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 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


UkraineAlert

Oct 3, 2024

Ukraine is slowly but steadily weakening Russia’s grip on Crimea

By
Serhii Kuzan

With international attention firmly fixed on the Russian army’s advances in eastern Ukraine and the Ukrainian invasion of Russia’s Kursk region, Ukraine is also making progress toward weakening Russia’s grip on Crimea, writes Serhii Kuzan.

Conflict
Defense Policy


UkraineAlert

Oct 3, 2024

Kyiv’s allies should boost Ukraine’s ability to strike deep inside Russia

By
David Kirichenko

With Kyiv’s partners still reluctant to lift restrictions on attacks inside Russia using Western weapons, one obvious solution would be to enhance Ukraine’s ability to strike Russian targets using domestically-produced Ukrainian weapons, writes David Kirichenko.

Conflict
Defense Industry


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


UkraineAlert

Oct 1, 2024

Russia’s political prisoners must not be forgotten

By
Leonid Gozman

The international community must not forget the more than one thousand Russian political prisoners currently incarcerated by the Kremlin, writes Leonid Gozman.

Conflict
Freedom and Prosperity


UkraineAlert

Sep 26, 2024

Putin will keep escalating his nuclear blackmail until it stops working

By
Peter Dickinson

More than two and half years since the start of Russia’s Ukraine invasion, it should now be abundantly clear that Vladimir Putin will continue escalating his nuclear blackmail until it stops working, writes Peter Dickinson.

Arms Control
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Sep 26, 2024

History is a key battleground in the Russian invasion of Ukraine

By
Benton Coblentz

Vladimir Putin has weaponized history to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The international community can combat this by committing more resources to the study of Ukrainian history, writes Benton Coblentz.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Sep 24, 2024

There can be no sustainable peace in Europe without security for Ukraine

By
Mykola Bielieskov

A compromise peace that rewards Putin with around 20 percent of Ukraine would only embolden Moscow and set the stage for further Russian aggression in Ukraine and beyond, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Conflict
Defense Policy

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

Feb 18, 2015

Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Battle Slogs Ahead

By Olena Tregub

New Prosecutor Briefly Arrests an Oligarch; Anti-Corruption Bureau Seeks a Director The Ukrainian campaign to actually begin cleaning up Europe’s most corrupt government and economy is progressing more slowly than many Ukrainians have demanded. But the past week showed some movement in two critical government agencies: the prosecutor general’s office and the nascent National Anti-Corruption […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 18, 2015

Amid the ‘Cease-Fire,’ Russian Forces Win a Battle in Ukraine

By New Atlanticist

Kyiv Forced into New Retreat; US, Europe Must Increase Support, Atlantic Council Analysts Say At midday February 18, three-and-a-half days beyond the designated hour for a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, fighting was continuing in the strategic city of Debaltseve, where Russian forces continue to pound a nearly surrounded Ukrainian contingent that may still number in […]

Eastern Europe
Russia

UkraineAlert

Feb 13, 2015

Ukraine’s Other War: Parliament Advances Anti-Corruption Fight

By New Atlanticist

Lawmakers Vote to End Their Immunity from Prosecution Members of Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, overwhelmingly passed a bill to end their own legal immunity from prosecution, one of the main laws that for years helped Ukraine to the top of Europe’s corruption charts. Article 80 of Ukraine’s constitution protects all Rada members from prosecution […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 13, 2015

Making Ukraine’s ‘Glimmer of Hope’ Sustainable

By Sabine Freizer

If Russia Permits, the Minsk Accord Could Be a Start for Stabilizing Donbas The ceasefire agreement signed by Russia and Ukraine on in Minsk on 12 February offers what German Chancellor Angela Merkel calls “a glimmer of hope, no more no less” for constricting, and eventually ending, the war in southeast Ukraine’s Donbas region. Whether […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 13, 2015

Russia’s Ukraine War Wins it the Advantage in New Truce Deal

By John E. Herbst

‘Minsk II’ Accord Will Let Moscow Keep Pumping Arms, Fighters into Ukraine’s Donbas With thousands of Ukrainian troops nearly surrounded in Donbas by the freshly armed, Kremlin-directed rebel militias, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko accepted the Minsk II agreement February 12. The new accord is clearly less advantageous to Kyiv than was the Minsk I agreement, which […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 10, 2015

Obama-Merkel Accord Delays Talk of Arms for Ukraine’s Defense Against Russia

By John E. Herbst

Europe Signals New Negotiation With Kremlin Will Not Include New Pressures on Kyiv The Obama-Merkel summit was critical for maintaining Transatlantic unity in the face of Moscow’s escalating aggression in Ukraine. While skeptical of the Kremlin’s intentions, German Chancellor Angela Merkel would like to try another round of diplomacy to stop the fighting. That is why […]

Europe & Eurasia
Germany

UkraineAlert

Feb 10, 2015

Ukraine’s Economic Crisis is Deep; It Needs Loans Faster Than You May Think

By Yuriy Gorodnichenko

Kyiv Lacks Money for the Aggressive Reforms That Ukrainians and the West Seek The uncertainty around how much—and how soon—Ukraine might get help from international lenders is contributing to two real economic dangers facing the country: a default on its debts and a radical slashing of the budget. Ukraine’s friends—the United States and European governments—need […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 6, 2015

Amid Escalated War, U.S. Weighs Defensive Weapons for Ukraine

By New Atlanticist

France & Germany Seek to Halt the Fighting, May Use Specter of a Better-Armed Ukraine to Press Putin The Obama administration has announced no decision on whether to help Ukraine use US-made weapons to defend against Russian-sponsored attacks. But France and Germany are probing to see whether that threat might help push Russian President Vladimir […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 3, 2015

Will Moldova’s Dangerous Political Deadlock Force Out Its Prime Minister?

By New Atlanticist

Foreign Minister and Europeanist Nataliya Gherman May Become Next Leader Moldova’s political parties are deadlocked on forming a government, and the parliament has until next week (February 12) to either confirm Prime Minister Iurie Leanca in his post or find an alternative. But Leanca is sure of having only 42 of the 51 votes he […]

Moldova

UkraineAlert

Feb 3, 2015

US Should Provide Arms, Military Aid to Ukraine, Eight Ex-Officials Say

By New Atlanticist

‘We Face a Critical Juncture’ in Halting Russian Aggression in Eastern Europe, Group Says Eight former senior US officials—diplomats, ranking Pentagon and State Department office-holders, military commanders and US appointees to NATO—today urged the Obama administration and its NATO allies to strengthen support for Ukraine by urgently providing military aid, including defensive weapons, for its […]

Ukraine