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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

Needing Better Control in Ukraine War, Moscow Sends in an Old KGB Hand

UkraineAlert
Sep 30, 2025

Putin’s dream of demilitarizing Ukraine has turned into his worst nightmare

By
Peter Dickinson

Putin had hoped to demilitarize and decapitate the Ukrainian state, but his self-defeating invasion has inadvertently created the militarily powerful and fiercely independent Ukraine he feared most of all, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Technologies

Needing Better Control in Ukraine War, Moscow Sends in an Old KGB Hand

UkraineAlert
Oct 2, 2025

Drone superpower Ukraine is teaching NATO how to defend against Russia

By
David Kirichenko

Ukraine’s unrivaled experience of drone warfare makes it a key partner for NATO and an indispensable ally in the defense of Europe as the continent faces up to the mounting threat posed by an expansionist Russia, writes David Kirichenko.

Conflict
Defense Technologies

Needing Better Control in Ukraine War, Moscow Sends in an Old KGB Hand

UkraineAlert
Oct 14, 2025

Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure are a European problem

By
Aura Sabadus

Russia’s strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure are no longer just a Ukrainian problem. Moscow’s bombing campaign will become a wider European issue unless more support is offered to Kyiv, writes Aura Sabadus.

Conflict
Drones

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Feb 21, 2022

Putin escalates his Ukraine war with recognition of separatist republics

By
Peter Dickinson

Eight years since the invasion of Crimea, Putin struck another blow in his war against Ukrainian statehood on February 21 by recognizing the two separatist republics of east Ukraine as independent states.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Feb 20, 2022

Putin’s self-defeating war has succeeded in uniting Ukrainians

By
Lucy Minicozzi-Wheeland

Vladimir Putin’s eight-year war against Ukraine has had a profound impact on Ukrainian identity and done more for national unity than any other single factor since Ukraine regained independence three decades ago.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Feb 19, 2022

NATO must seize the current strategic opportunity in the Black Sea

By
Harlan Ullman

The Ukraine crisis has underlined the need for NATO to develop a coherent Black Sea Strategy that will allow the alliance to counter the growing regional threat posed by Vladimir Putin’s resurgent Russia.

Conflict
Maritime Security


UkraineAlert

Feb 19, 2022

Will there be a “Munich Moment” in the Russia-Ukraine crisis?

By
Thomas S. Warrick

A full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine could yet be prevented via a “Munich moment” bringing together Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden to strike a last-minute geopolitical deal, writes Thomas Warrick.

Conflict
Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion


UkraineAlert

Feb 18, 2022

Putin’s absurd genocide claims cannot hide his war crimes in Ukraine

By
Olexander Scherba

Russian President Vladimir Putin likes to claim that an anti-Russian genocide is underway in Ukraine but in reality he is upset by the historical loss of influence suffered by representatives of the Russian state.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Feb 17, 2022

What would constitute victory for Putin in his war with Ukraine?

By
David Batashvili

In order to achieve his long-term foreign policy goal of subjugating a hostile Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin must militarily seize and occupy a large portion of what is the largest country wholly in Europe.

Conflict
National Security


UkraineAlert

Feb 16, 2022

Putin has seriously wounded Ukraine’s economy without firing a single shot

By
Anders Åslund

Even without physically invading Ukraine, Vladimir Putin is already causing the country great economic losses. The West cannot stand by and watch this happen, explains Anders Åslund.

Conflict
Democratic Transitions


UkraineAlert

Feb 15, 2022

The view from Ukraine: What happens if war breaks out tomorrow?

By
Vitaliy Deynega

Vitaliy Deynega says Ukraine has never been more united or able to defend itself and argues that Putin’s threatened invasion is a gesture of despair by an enemy who cannot accept he has already lost.

Civil Society
Conflict


UkraineAlert

Feb 14, 2022

Russia may dodge sanctions by using Putin proxies to invade Ukraine

By
Pavlo Kukhta, Viktoria Podhorna, Mykyta Poturaev, Yehor Chernev

With Russia facing the possibility of crushing sanctions over the threatened invasion of Ukraine, Putin may prefer to deploy hybrid forces made up of regular Russian troops and mercenaries posing as Ukrainian separatists.

Conflict
Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Feb 11, 2022

Free trade and drones: Turkey and Ukraine strengthen strategic ties

By
Christopher Isajiw

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Kyiv in early February for a visit that underlined the deepening strategic partnership between the two Black Sea nations.

Conflict
Defense Industry

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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

Needing Better Control in Ukraine War, Moscow Sends in an Old KGB Hand

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

Needing Better Control in Ukraine War, Moscow Sends in an Old KGB Hand

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

Needing Better Control in Ukraine War, Moscow Sends in an Old KGB Hand

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

Jul 17, 2014

Needing Better Control in Ukraine War, Moscow Sends in an Old KGB Hand

By Irena Chalupa

Vladimir Antyufeyev Fought Dirty Wars in Latvia, Moldova, Georgia; He’s Just the Man the Kremlin Needs  Last week the Russian-backed “Donetsk People’s Republic” became even more Russian-led. The two Muscovites at the top of the separatist leadership introduced the latest Russian citizen to join their team – and the one with the most prominent role so far […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 17, 2014

New US Sanctions on Russia: A Good Step, Two Weeks Too Late

By John Herbst

Putin Used West’s Hesitation to Escalate Kremlin’s War on Ukraine The news that the United States has sanctioned several major Russian banks and firms, greatly limiting their use of American financial markets, is the first good news in months in terms of Western support for Ukraine. The designation of Vnesheconombank (Bank for Development and Foreign […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 16, 2014

The Kremlin’s Myth About Ukraine Militias Echoes in the Baltics

By James Rupert

A Diaspora Russian Declares That 500 Pro-Kremlin Fighters Could Break Up Latvia Latvia’s government and the world’s mainstream media may have been right to publicly ignore a Latvia-born Russian named Andrey Neronsky this week when he declared that “about 500 [Donbas-style] militiamen would be enough to end the existence of Latvia as a unified state.” […]

Northern Europe
Russia

UkraineAlert

Jul 14, 2014

After the West’s Retreat on Sanctions: Putin, Tanks & Missiles Escalate the War on Ukraine

By James Rupert

Kyiv Government and Local Residents Report New Tanks From Russia Entering the Fight A week after the European Union backed away from its vow to impose broad economic sanctions on Russia over the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, the government of President Vladimir Putin has intensified the assault. Ukraine’s government and independent reports say Russia has […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 11, 2014

As EU Decides Russia Sanctions July 16, Will the US Have to Lead on Its Own?

By James Rupert

Damon Wilson: White House May Have to Decide to Act Without European Union The United States has only a dwindling few days left to persuade the European Union to join it in imposing broad economic sanctions against Russia for its attacks on Ukraine. After the EU Council meets on Wednesday, July 16, the Obama administration […]

European Union
International Organizations

UkraineAlert

Jul 10, 2014

Ukraine’s War Zone: Government Claims New Advances

By James Rupert

Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council has issued a map showing what it says are its troops’ latest advances on the battlefield in the two southeastern provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk as of July 9, 2014 (at noon Ukrainian time).

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 10, 2014

Ukraine’s Female Pilot-Soldier Surfaces in a Russian Prison

By James Rupert

At age 33, Nadiya Savchenko has served her country as a paratrooper in the combat zone of Iraq, as a helicopter navigator, and as a volunteer National Guard infantrywoman in the three-month-old war against Russian-backed militias. Yesterday she surfaced in a new role – as Ukraine’s most prominent prisoner of that war, detained in a […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 7, 2014

A Day in Luhansk: Crimes and Uncertainties of War

By Tanya Lokshina, Human Rights Watch

Tanya Lokshina, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch, published on July 5 an account, excerpted below, of a visit to the conflict zone in Luhansk province. Read her full report here.

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 7, 2014

Ukraine, Having Seized Rebel-Held Cities, Now Must Govern Them

By James Rupert

Stabilizing a Recaptured Conflict Zone Will Test Kyiv’s Skills at Reconciliation While Ukraine’s weekend victory in seizing back two cities in Donetsk province is its biggest in the three-month war with Russian proxy forces, it immediately poses some tough new tests for the government in Kyiv. And, at a critical moment in Ukraine’s fight against […]

Russia
Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 7, 2014

Why Ukraine Was Forced to Fight

By Damon Wilson

The West Retreated From Its Vow of Sanctions, Leaving Kyiv No Option   The Ukrainian military’s counter-offensive in southeast Ukraine suddenly has become Kyiv’s most effective response so far to the three-month-old proxy insurgency waged by Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the fight will be longer and riskier if the West continues its hesitation to […]

Ukraine
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