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

Apr 9, 2018

Why Expelling Russian Diplomats Isn’t Enough

By
Jakub Janda

So far, twenty-eight nations have sent home more than 140 Russian diplomats and spies in a coordinated response to the Russian nerve agent assassination attempt in Salisbury, England. Symbolically, this unprecedented expulsion of Russian officials constitutes an important show of unity, but its practical impact in terms of hindering Russian subversion operations is limited. With […]


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 5, 2018

Nationalism Is on the Rise in Ukraine, and That’s a Good Thing

By
Ruslan Minich

The Euromaidan revolution and ongoing Russian aggression have united the nation like never before. People of various origins, both Russian and Ukrainian speakers, stood up to the pro-Russian regime of Viktor Yanukovych, and now they resist Russia’s efforts to reimpose influence over Ukraine. As a result, nationalism is a part of everyday life for the […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 5, 2018

Foam Butts, Black Labs, and Straight Jackets: Kyiv Activists Lampoon New Restrictions

By
Josh Cohen

It’s clear that Ukraine’s officials and oligarchs are not fans of the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC). Founded by Daria Kaleniuk and Vitaliy Shabunin—two of Ukraine’s leading anti-corruption activists—AntAC has been civil society’s tip of the spear in its ongoing efforts to end the impunity politicians took for granted before the Euromaidan. AntAC and its team […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 3, 2018

Two Ways the West Enables Corruption in Ukraine

By
Taras Kuzio

Western pressure on Ukraine to fight corruption has never been greater. But the pressure has been one-sided and focused on Ukraine, which isn’t fair. The West bears some culpability, too. Ukrainians flee criminal prosecution and receive political asylum in the West, and they use Western banks to launder capital from Ukraine. It is time to […]


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 3, 2018

Reluctant Russophobes: The Underwhelming International Response to Putin’s Hybrid War

By
Peter Dickinson

If Moscow is genuinely innocent of all the misdeeds attributed to it, why does it always seem to get the blame? The Kremlin attributes every new allegation to Russophobia. This excuse has proven ideally suited to the varied terrain of hybrid warfare, serving as a one-size-fits-all explanation for virtually any charge. Whether the claims relate […]


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 2, 2018

Is Putin Getting Ready to Exit the Donbas?

By
Michael Bociurkiw

For the second time in less than a month, a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine was agreed to. The pause in shooting was to have gone into effect just after midnight Thursday, March 29. That’s not particularly unusual; many ceasefires have been declared since the conflict began in the spring of 2014. And like the others, […]


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 2, 2018

Why Ukraine’s Major Achievement in Government Transparency May Fail

By
Olena Prokopenko

The launch of Ukraine’s e-declaration system—one of the world’s most advanced—remains among the country’s biggest post-Maidan achievements. It has been a groundbreaking step toward the transparency broadly supported by the country’s Western partners. Yet ever since its inception, electronic asset declarations for officials has been under continuous sabotage and has been attacked on a wide […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Mar 29, 2018

What’s Up with Nadiya Savchenko?

By
Vera Zimmerman

Ukrainians are still trying to digest the shocking news of an averted military-style coup plot led by war hero and parliamentarian Nadiya Savchenko. The story broke on March 8 when Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) apprehended Volodymyr Ruban as he was illegally crossing a checkpoint in a van loaded with heavy weapons. Ruban, a volunteer prisoner […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Mar 28, 2018

Ukraine’s Glaring National Security Gap that No One Has Heard Of

By
Anders Åslund

My article about Ukraine’s new electricity tariffs aroused quite a few interesting comments, which deserve responses. Since these comments are private and many from people in high positions, I shall not mention their names. The arguments circle around pricing, ownership, privatization, investment, and taxation. The natural start is ownership. No one favors state enterprises. They […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Mar 27, 2018

Good to Be King: Ukraine’s Fugitive Oligarch Blocks Reforms and Benefits from International Handouts While Under House Arrest

By
Oleksandr Kharchenko

Corruption is still a major challenge in Ukraine, and the energy sector is particularly vulnerable to illegal activity. But although it is tempting to view corruption as a problem indigenous to Ukraine, outside actors—sometimes tolerated or even supported by the government in Kyiv—play a leading role in perpetuating corruption inside Ukraine. A key illustration of […]


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

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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