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.

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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

What the Kremlin’s Setback May Mean

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

What the Kremlin’s Setback May Mean

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

What the Kremlin’s Setback May Mean

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

May 6, 2019

The illusions of Putin’s Russia

By
Anders Åslund

The best defense of the West against Putin’s authoritarian and kleptocratic regime is transparency, shining light on this anonymous wealth.


Corruption

Financial Regulation


UkraineAlert

May 3, 2019

Children as a tool: how Russia militarizes kids in the Donbas and Crimea

By
Iryna Matviyishyn

With an eye to the future, officials in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine are waging a campaign of “patriotic education” aimed at reaching the hearts and minds of those most susceptible to ideological persuasion: children. Russia has always used the militarization of public life to indoctrinate local populations and continues that practice today. Currently, thousands […]


Conflict

Human Rights


UkraineAlert

May 2, 2019

Time for Ukraine to compete with Russia

By
Grigory Frolov

Showman Volodymyr Zelenskiy will soon be sworn in as president of Ukraine. Last month he crushed incumbent President Petro Poroshenko in a remarkable landslide. Zelenskiy’s victory was noteworthy in Ukraine, but it’s also making headlines across the former Soviet Union. While Zelenskiy is inexperienced and his policies aren’t well defined, he knows how to engage […]


European Union

Inclusive Growth


UkraineAlert

May 2, 2019

Ukraine’s new language law rights historic wrongs

By
Andrej Lushnycky

For centuries the Ukrainian language was relegated to the status of a “peasant language” by the foreign rulers of the lands that make up the country today and by foreign scholars in Europe and abroad who perpetuated this Russian imperial falsehood. More recently, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited a Soviet political […]


Civil Society

Nationalism


UkraineAlert

Apr 29, 2019

Vladimir Putin does Shakespeare

By
Stephen Blank

Vladimir Putin’s newest display of talent is his excelling in theatrics. He recently elected to play Macbeth or Richard III. Having nothing left to offer Russia as the indices of immiseration pile up, Putin’s recourse to imperial theatrics has dramatically accelerated. But ultimately this performance, like those of his predecessors on stage and in reality, […]


Conflict

Human Rights


UkraineAlert

Apr 26, 2019

What is wrong with the Ukrainian economy?

By
Anders Åslund

Construction is booming in Kyiv, Ukraine, but not the rest of the economy. A major reason is that Ukrainians with some extra savings do not put their money into banks but buy additional apartments instead. Others keep their savings in cash. On average, Ukrainian MPs keep $700,000 at home. Those who have a lot of […]


Financial Regulation

Fiscal and Structural Reform


UkraineAlert

Apr 25, 2019

10 ways the west should engage with Ukraine after 2019 elections

By
Chatham House

Five years after the annexation of Crimea and the instigation of conflict in the Donbas, the reasons for continued sanctions on Russia have not gone away. Crimea is still occupied. War grinds on in the Donbas. Ukraine held presidential elections this spring and will hold parliamentary elections in the fall. Whatever the results, events in […]


Defense Policy

Disinformation


UkraineAlert

Apr 25, 2019

What Zelenskiy’s victory means for Ukraine

By
David J. Kramer

The temptation in Kyiv and elsewhere is to look past Sunday’s overwhelming victory by upstart Volodymyr Zelenskiy over incumbent Petro Poroshenko and try to divine what it means for Ukraine. This piece will yield to that temptation—but after acknowledging the importance of what happened Sunday and throughout the election campaign. Free and fair elections in […]


Democratic Transitions

Elections


UkraineAlert

Apr 24, 2019

How history will judge Poroshenko

By
Alexander J. Motyl

The majority of Ukraine’s voters and pundits detest President Petro Poroshenko who lost his chance at a second term on April 21. However, history will prove them wrong and judge him as Ukraine’s most successful leader. Indeed, Poroshenko will go down in the annals as the man who consolidated Ukraine’s state, nation, democracy, and the […]


Democratic Transitions

Elections


UkraineAlert

Apr 23, 2019

Why Poroshenko lost

By
Dennis Soltys

On April 21, television star Volodymyr Zelenskiy crushed incumbent president Petro Poroshenko in the second round of Ukraine’s presidential election. Even though Zelenskiy has never held elected office, voters were so tired of corruption and economic stagnation that they were willing to take a risk. Zelenskiy ran an unusual campaign. He made few programmatic promises […]


Democratic Transitions

Elections

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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

What the Kremlin’s Setback May Mean

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

What the Kremlin’s Setback May Mean

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

What the Kremlin’s Setback May Mean

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

Jan 9, 2015

What the Kremlin’s Setback May Mean

By Elizabeth Pond

Economics Have Stalled Putin, But He Often Answers Reversals With Military Threats In the Ukraine crisis, soft economic power last month trumped hard military power for the first time. The threatened meltdown of the Russian economy could push Russian President Vladimir Putin to dial down his undeclared war on Ukraine in return for some easing […]

Eastern Europe Russia

UkraineAlert

Jan 9, 2015

January: An Important Month for Shaping the US Role in Europe

By Ian Brzezinski

Amid Ukraine-Russia Crisis, New Decisions Will Define America’s ‘Force Posture’ for Years to Come Almost a year after Russia’s invasions of Ukraine, the US government will roll out a series of decisions in the next month that will play a big role in shaping how the United States and its transatlantic allies respond in the long […]

Eastern Europe Europe & Eurasia

UkraineAlert

Jan 6, 2015

As Kyiv Tackles Corruption and Reform, a New Threat: Warlords

By New Atlanticist

Kyiv’s Government Is Failing to Act Against Some Volunteer Defense Units Now Acting Like Outlaws, Adrian Karatnycky Writes As Ukraine’s new parliament and cabinet are tackling corruption and the country’s fiscal crisis with the energy of an unprecedented new crop of civic activists, pro-democracy activists and skilled technocrats, a new threat is arising: outlaw-style threats […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 6, 2015

Ukraine’s Crisis in 2015: What to Expect

By New Atlanticist

Donbas War Will Last All Year; May Be Settled With Early Parliament Election, Mefford Writes How predictable is Ukraine’s coming year, given its financial crisis, its untested new government and, above all, its war against Russia and its proxy forces in the southeastern region of Donbas? Not very predictable, notes the Atlantic Council’s Kyiv-based senior […]

Eastern Europe Russia

UkraineAlert

Dec 29, 2014

For 2015, Six Critical Themes for Meeting Russia’s Threat to Europe

By James Rupert

A Crisis Index by Atlantic Council’s UkraineAlert Throughout Russia’s assault this year on Ukraine, one of Europe’s most dangerous wars since the close of World War II, the Atlantic Council has analyzed the conflict for ways to sustain Europe’s stability and the right of 43 million Ukrainians to the independent, democratic future they have chosen. […]

Eastern Europe Russia

UkraineAlert

Dec 29, 2014

Ukraine’s Got Talent: New Anti-Corruption Bureau Includes Big Names

By New Atlanticist

Still, Ukrainians Wait to See Concrete Steps to End a System of Graft Ukraine’s new government is on track to pass a painfully austere budget by the end of the year, according to the Atlantic Council’s Kyiv-based senior fellow, Brian Mefford. The other center of attention is the government’s establishment of a National Anti-Corruption Bureau, […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 27, 2014

DIRECT TRANSLATION: A Retired Russian Army Officer Sends Paid ‘Volunteers’ to Fight in Ukraine

By James Rupert

Kremlin Quietly Supports Network That Sends Thousands of Russian Veterans to Donbas War In Yekaterinburg, the main city of Russia’s Ural region, retired army officer Vladimir Yefimov organizes army veterans to fight for Russia in southeastern Ukraine, more than 1,000 miles away. While Russia’s deployment of army troops and non-official Russian “volunteer” fighters in Ukraine […]

Eastern Europe Russia

UkraineAlert

Dec 23, 2014

In the War for Ukraine’s Donbas, the Ordeal of a Frontline Town

By Irena Chalupa

Far From Kyiv and Next to Donetsk, the Elderly of Pisky Get Daily Shelling, But No Pensions Before this year’s war in southeast Ukraine, the town of Pisky, at the edge of the city of Donetsk, was home to about 3,000 people. Many were academics who worked at the local Donetsk Institute of Agricultural Production. […]

Eastern Europe Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 23, 2014

As US and Europe Press Ukraine to Reform, They Also Must Help Save It from Default

By Sabine Freizer

The Ukrainian Project to Keep Europe Whole and Free Needs Adequate Financing—and Quickly  Ukraine’s new government has unleashed a “tiger team” of ministers committed to quick and comprehensive reforms—but as that work begins, the costs of war and recession have pushed Ukraine to the edge of default.  Ukraine has begun to take steps to slash […]

European Union International Organizations

UkraineAlert

Dec 19, 2014

Putin Leaves All Options Open on Economic Crisis and Ukraine War

By James Rupert

Pascual: As Russia Faces Economic Downturn, West Should Probe Kremlin on Chances of a Merkel-Brokered Deal In his annual press conference this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered no clear suggestion for how he proposes to dig Russia out of its deepening economic hole. And he signaled no new direction in government’s sponsorship of the […]

Russia Ukraine
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