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
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.
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.
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.
Five Steps Ukraine Should Take Now to Free Their Hostages in Russia
By Josh Cohen
Perhaps no one in Kyiv faces a more difficult task than First Vice-Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Iryna Herashchenko. Herashchenko is Ukraine’s lead negotiator tasked with freeing Ukrainians held captive in the Donbas. The Ukrainian government and Russia’s separatist proxies in eastern Ukraine exchanged nearly 400 prisoners in late 2017—a notable achievement for which Herashchenko […]
Former Defense Minister Hrytsenko Is Finally Having His Moment in the Sun
By Vitalii Rybak
Anatoliy Hrytsenko, Ukraine’s defense minister from 2005 to 2007, is finally having his moment in the sun. The latest poll shows that 12.7 percent of Ukrainians who have made up their minds would vote for Hrytsenko in the first round of the 2019 presidential election. This is progress compared to his previous results. The 2019 […]
Ukraine’s New Populists: Who They Are and Why They’re Dangerous
By Volodymyr Yermolenko
Populists are flourishing almost everywhere. The demand for simple solutions in a complicated world makes their messages resonate. Ukraine is no exception. The country’s situation with numerous security and economic hardships provides fertile ground for populists. Over the last four years, Ukraine has embraced a number of painful structural reforms that have been partially successful. […]
How to Make Sense of Japan’s Delicate Balance Between Russia and Ukraine
By Maria Shagina
Showing solidarity with other G7 countries following Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine, Japan imposed sanctions on Russia—albeit reluctantly. The Ukraine crisis occurred amid Japan’s efforts to reinvigorate Japan-Russia relations in the hope of solving the long-standing territorial dispute over the Northern territories (the Kuril Islands in Russian). Subsequently, maintaining Japan’s balance between other G7 countries […]
Do Ukraine’s Reformers Have a Real Shot at the Presidency?
By Melinda Haring
Ukraine’s opposition is a mess—but this is hardly news. Through Ukraine’s nearly three decades of independence, its opposition has never gotten its act together. Consequently, the same corrupt elite continues to govern the country of 45 million to its detriment. Ukraine managed to squander the gains of its street revolution in 2004, and as the […]
What Does Ukraine’s New Military Approach Toward the Donbas Mean?
By Vera Zimmerman
Ukraine wants to reframe its approach to resolving the ongoing conflict with Russia. Beginning last month, the military is now in charge of ground operations. The launch of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) replaced the four-year Anti-Terrorism Operation (ATO) and marks Ukraine’s shift to a more active defense. President Petro Poroshenko thinks that the new […]
No state can function without justice, and Ukraine is no exception. For years, corruption and the absence of justice, together with Russian military aggression, have held back the country. After four years of struggle and numerous pieces of legislation, there has been little progress. Ukraine started out with a good idea: reformers wanted to create […]
Absurd Price Hikes and Epic Hospitality: Kyiv’s Champions League Showcases Best and Worst of Ukraine
By Peter Dickinson
Kyiv’s preparations to host the 2018 Champions League Final on May 26 have been something of a rollercoaster ride that has highlighted the very best and worst of Ukraine. The international media buildup to the big match began with a flurry of negative stories criticizing Ukrainian hoteliers and apartment rental services for inflating prices to […]
No Longer a Soldier: Ukraine’s Returned Volunteers Are Embracing Second and Third Careers
By Ruslan Minich
“Finding myself in Kyiv now, I smell blood and diesel from time to time. These triggers will always be there,” says Alina Viatkina, a paramedic for the volunteer Hospitallers Medical Battalion. “But you can’t lose control for three days every time. You are learning how to calm yourself: OK, this is the smell of blood. […]
Ukraine’s Least Celebrated Oligarch-Free Institution That You Haven’t Heard Of
By Oksana Bedratenko
As Ukraine’s economy begins to grow modestly, its Central Bank is striving to become an anchor of stability. The country needs to preserve the fragile macroeconomic stability it has achieved and use the upswing in the global economy to conduct reforms and stimulate economic growth. The task, however, still meets formidable obstacles; a number of […]
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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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