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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

Oct 23, 2025

Russia’s ‘human safari’ in southern Ukraine is a warning to the world

By Oleksandr Tolokonnikov

Russia’s escalating campaign of drone attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine’s Kherson region highlights the destructive power of modern drone technologies, writes Oleksandr Tolokonnikov.

Conflict Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

Oct 23, 2025

US voices concern over Chinese support for Russia’s Ukraine invasion

By Katherine Spencer

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has raised concerns over Chinese components in Russian military drones amid fresh allegations of Beijing’s mounting support for Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, writes Katherine Spencer.

China Conflict

UkraineAlert

Oct 21, 2025

Budapest summit postponed as Putin rejects Trump’s ceasefire proposal

By Peter Dickinson

Just days after US President Donald Trump announced plans for a new summit with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, their proposed Budapest meeting has been thrown into doubt by Russia’s rejection of a ceasefire in Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Economic Sanctions

UkraineAlert

Oct 21, 2025

Vladimir Putin’s war machine may finally be running out of fuel

By Vladyslav Davydov

Ukraine’s deep strikes on Russia’s energy industry have exposed Putin’s Achilles heel and helped demonstrate that the Russian economy is far more fragile than many in Moscow would like us to believe, writes Vladyslav Davydov .

Conflict Drones

UkraineAlert

Oct 16, 2025

Putin seeks more foreign fighters amid mounting Russian losses in Ukraine

By David Kirichenko

With fewer and fewer Russians ready to volunteer for the war in Ukraine, Putin is seeking to recruit more foreign fighters from across Africa, Asia, and beyond, writes David Kirichenko.

Africa Americas

UkraineAlert

Oct 16, 2025

Ukraine’s drone sanctions are working but don’t expect a Russian revolt

By Christopher Isajiw

Ukraine’s long-range drone strike campaign has brought Putin’s invasion home to Russia but mounting domestic problems are unlikely to spark a rebellion against the Kremlin dictatorship, writes Christopher Isajiw.

Conflict Drones

UkraineAlert

Oct 14, 2025

Tomahawk missiles are Russia’s latest red line. Will Trump call Putin’s bluff?

By Peter Dickinson

Time and again since 2022, Moscow has declared a new red line while warning of the West of nuclear escalation, only to then do nothing when their red lines are crossed. Trump can now call Putin’s bluff over Russia’s latest red line by providing Ukraine with Tomahawks, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Defense Technologies

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

UkraineAlert

Oct 9, 2025

Putin the geopolitical gangster is trying to intimidate Europe

By Peter Dickinson

Putin the geopolitical gangster is trying to intimidate Europe into abandoning Ukraine with an escalating campaign of gray zone aggression designed to highlight the continent’s vulnerability to Russian attack, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Drones

UkraineAlert

Oct 8, 2025

Ukraine’s defense tech sector must guard against innovation drain

By Andriy Dovbenko

Without robust intellectual property (IP) protections, Ukraine may lose control of the defense tech innovations that are currently helping to defend the country on the battlefield, writes Andriy Dovbenko.

Conflict Defense Industry

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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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UkraineAlert

Sep 13, 2023

Now is the time for businesses to look at Ukraine

By Andy Hunder

Ukraine's reconstruction promises to be the largest national recovery project in Europe since World War II and will create unique business opportunities, writes AmCham Ukraine's Andy Hunder.

Conflict Economy & Business

UkraineAlert

Sep 12, 2023

Russia seeks to legitimize occupation of Ukraine with sham elections

By Mercedes Sapuppo, Olivia Yanchik

In early September, Russia staged sham parliamentary elections in occupied regions of southern and eastern Ukraine as Moscow attempted to legitimize its earlier illegal annexation of five Ukrainian provinces.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Sep 12, 2023

US expected to decide soon on long-range missiles for Ukraine

By Benton Coblentz

ATACMS missiles would greatly increase Ukraine’s ability to strike the logistical networks supporting Russia's invasion and would make it increasingly difficult for Putin’s army to operate inside Ukraine, writes Benton Coblentz.

Conflict Maritime Security

UkraineAlert

Sep 7, 2023

Ukraine’s partners cannot remove Putin but they can stop legitimizing him

By Richard Cashman

As long as Vladimir Putin is in power, Russia will remain a rogue state. Western policies that legitimize him through fear of a potential post-Putin Russia are perverse, writes Richard Cashman.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Sep 6, 2023

Belarus dictator weaponizes passports in new attack on exiled opposition

By Hanna Liubakova

Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka has banned the country's embassies from issuing or renewing passports in a move that critics see as his latest escalation against Belarus's exiled pro-democracy opposition, writes Hanna Liubakova.

Belarus Civil Society

UkraineAlert

Sep 5, 2023

Removal of defense minister shows wartime Ukraine is changing

By Melinda Haring

The removal of Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov in early September came following a series of minor but damaging corruption scandals and signaled a zero tolerance approach to graft in wartime Ukraine, writes Melinda Haring.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Sep 4, 2023

Jewish president picks Muslim defense minister: Ukraine’s diverse leadership debunks Russia’s “Nazi” slurs

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine now has a Jewish president and a Muslim minister of defense, underlining the diversity of the country's leadership while exposing the absurdity of Russia's “Nazi Ukraine” propaganda, writes Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 31, 2023

Russia is losing in Ukraine but winning in Georgia

By Giorgi Kandelaki

If Putin is able to reassert Russian dominance over Georgia while continuing to occupy 20% of the country, he will be encouraged to believe that a similar outcome will eventually prove possible in Ukraine, writes Giorgi Kandelaki.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 31, 2023

Putin’s Russia must not be allowed to normalize nuclear blackmail

By Olivia Yanchik

Vladimir Putin has used nuclear threats to intimidate the West and reduce the flow of military aid to Ukraine. If this trend does not change, Russia will succeed in normalizing nuclear blackmail as a foreign policy tool, writes Olivia Yanchik.

Arms Control Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 29, 2023

Ukraine’s remarkable resilience may prove decisive in long war with Russia

By Peter Dickinson

With hopes of a decisive Russian military victory fading fast, Vladimir Putin is pinning his hopes on outlasting the West and breaking Ukraine's will to resist. However, he may have fatally underestimated Ukrainian resilience, writes Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society Conflict