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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

Sep 21, 2022

Putin’s nuclear ultimatum is a desperate bid to freeze a losing war

By
Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine is a sign of the Russian dictator’s mounting desperation as his invasion continues to unravel and his country’s geopolitical isolation deepens.

Central Asia
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Sep 20, 2022

Weaponizing education: Russia targets schoolchildren in occupied Ukraine

By
Oleksandr Pankieiev

The Kremlin is attempting to impose the russification of Ukrainian schoolchildren in occupied areas as part of Moscow’s campaign to extinguish Ukrainian statehood and eradicate all traces of Ukrainian national identity.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Sep 18, 2022

Most multinationals remain in Russia and fund Putin’s invasion of Ukraine

By
Diane Francis

Despite much coverage of multinational corporations leaving the Russian market in protect over the invasion of Ukraine, in reality the majority of international companies have yet to fully exit Russia.

Conflict
Economy & Business


UkraineAlert

Sep 17, 2022

Putin’s Russian Empire is collapsing like its Soviet predecessor

By
Taras Kuzio

Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was meant to extinguish the Ukrainian state once and for all. Instead, Russian influence in the post-Soviet region is in danger of receding to levels not witnessed in hundreds of years.

Belarus
Central Asia


UkraineAlert

Sep 15, 2022

Putin’s self-defeating invasion turns southern Ukrainians away from Russia

By
Michael Druckman

Putin framed his Ukraine invasion as a crusade to rescue Russian-speaking Ukrainians but polling data indicates that the war has turned traditionally Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine decisively against the Kremlin.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Sep 14, 2022

The complex reality behind Vladimir Putin’s nuclear blackmail in Ukraine

By
Suriya Evans-Pritchard Jayanti

Putin’s recent efforts to blackmail European leaders by threatening a nuclear disaster at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Ukraine reflect Russia’s use of fear and energy as foreign policy tools.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Sep 13, 2022

Ukrainian victory shatters Russia’s reputation as a military superpower

By
Andriy Zagorodnyuk

The stunning success of Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region has exposed the rotten reality behind Russia’s military superpower reputation and convinced many that a decisive Ukrainian victory is now possible.

Conflict
Corruption


UkraineAlert

Sep 13, 2022

Ukraine is winning but needs weapons to end Russia’s genocidal occupation

By
Kristina Hook

Ukraine’s recent Kharkiv counteroffensive was a major breakthrough but the country’s Western partners must now deliver more weapons in order to achieve a decisive victory and end Russia’s genocidal occupation.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Sep 11, 2022

Russia is facing defeat in Putin’s gas war against the European Union

By
Aura Sabadus

Vladimir Putin has declared an energy war against the European Union but there are growing signs that the Russian dictator may have overplayed his hand, writes Aura Sabadus.

Conflict
Energy Markets & Governance


UkraineAlert

Sep 9, 2022

Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine demands special international tribunal

By
Olena Khomenko

Ukraine is urging the international community to establish a special tribunal in order to prosecute Russia for the crime of aggression and bring an end to the impunity that is fueling the Putin regime’s criminal foreign policy.

Conflict
European Union

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UkraineAlert

Dec 4, 2014

Ukraine’s New Foreign-Born Ministers Vow to Accelerate Economic Reforms

By James Rupert

US- and Lithuanian-Born Officials Will Be Independent, Competent—and New to Governing in Kyiv The race is on. With Ukraine’s finances running thin and the country needing a bigger bailout from its western allies, the country’s new cabinet took office this week pledging to floor the accelerator on the spending cuts and reforms needed to begin […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 4, 2014

Amid East Europe’s Tussle, Moldova Election Shows Need to Speed Reform

By James Rupert

US, EU Should Re-Focus Now on What May Be a Last, Best Chance for Critical Changes, Analysts Say Moldova’s pro-Europe parties have won a troubled election victory, taking barely enough parliament seats to renew their coalition and pursue the integration of Moldova with the European Union. That may hold open a window of opportunity—for perhaps […]

Eastern Europe
Elections

UkraineAlert

Nov 26, 2014

On Ukraine, the Economists Declare an Emergency

By James Rupert

Ukraine’s Friends Plan a Donor Conference in February; Is That Soon Enough? On Ukraine, the economists are declaring an emergency. Ukraine is bleeding cash in its war against Russian and Russian-proxy forces in the Donbas region. With its industrial heartland shattered by the war, the country’s economy is shriveling. And the warnings from economists are […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 21, 2014

Before Ukraine Can Be Reformed, It Must Be Defended

By Paul Goble

When Hitler Invaded Poland, No One Demanded Polish Reforms Before Offering Help. Why Is It the Reverse for Ukraine? “September 3, 1939 – British and French commentators and officials said today that it could no longer be denied that Hitler was invading Poland and that the Nazi forces represented the most serious threat to the […]

Eastern Europe
Russia

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