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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

Aug 28, 2025

Putin wants to capture Ukraine’s crucial fortress belt without a fight

By Mykola Bielieskov

As US-led efforts to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine struggle to gain momentum, Vladimir Putin’s latest territorial demands include the surrender of strategically vital and heavily fortified Ukrainian land in the east of the country, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Aug 28, 2025

Russia attacks Zelenskyy’s legitimacy to derail US-led Ukraine peace talks

By Serhii Savelii

Moscow’s efforts to portray Zelenskyy as illegitimate fall apart when weighed against Ukraine’s Constitution and the country’s political practice, along with international precedents and legal tradition, writes Serhii Savelii.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Aug 25, 2025

Putin’s hybrid war against Europe continues to escalate

By Maksym Beznosiuk

While international attention focuses on faltering US-led efforts to broker a peace deal and end the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin’s broader hybrid war against Europe continues to escalate, writes Maksym Beznosiuk.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Aug 21, 2025

Putin is facing a fuel crisis as Ukraine escalates attacks on Russian refineries

By David Kirichenko

Historically, Russia’s sheer size has always been considered one of its main strengths. By launching waves of airstrikes across the country, Ukraine now intends to exploit this vastness and transform it into Russia’s greatest weakness, writes David Kirichenko.

Conflict Defense Technologies

UkraineAlert

Aug 21, 2025

Sorry, Trump, but Putin will not pursue peace until he is facing military defeat

By Elena Davlikanova, Yevhen Malik

Following the recent Alaska and White House summits, it should now be abundantly clear that Russia will continue to reject Trump’s peace overtures until Putin faces significantly more pressure to end the war, write Elena Davlikanova and Yevhen Malik.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Aug 19, 2025

A strong Ukraine is the only realistic security guarantee against Russia

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s Western partners are preparing to offer security guarantees as part of efforts to prevent further Russian aggression, but it far from clear whether Western governments would actually fight Russia on behalf of Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Aug 16, 2025

Ukrainians left dismayed as Trump gives Putin the red carpet treatment

By Peter Dickinson

US President Donald Trump’s warm welcome for Russian President Vladimir Putin was a major PR victory for the Kremlin dictator that made for particularly painful viewing in Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Freedom and Prosperity

UkraineAlert

Aug 14, 2025

Alaska Summit: Trump wants a real estate deal. Putin wants an empire.

By Peter Dickinson

US President Donald Trump appears to view peace negotiations with Vladimir Putin as a geopolitical real estate deal. But the Russian dictator is not fighting for land in Ukraine. He is fighting for Ukraine itself, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Aug 14, 2025

Trump should insist on the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia

By Mercedes Sapuppo

When US President Donald Trump sits down with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, he must demand the return of the thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

Conflict Human Rights

UkraineAlert

Aug 12, 2025

Sacrificing Ukraine will only increase the cost of stopping Putin’s Russia

By Pavlo Zhovnirenko

Pressuring Ukraine to accept a Kremlin-friendly settlement may succeed in pausing the current war, but it will not bring peace. On the contrary, it will set the stage for international instability on a far larger scale, writes Pavlo Zhovnirenko.

China Conflict

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UkraineAlert

Feb 20, 2023

‘You cannot outlast us’: Biden’s Kyiv visit sends strong message to Moscow

By Peter Dickinson

US President Joe Biden's bold surprise visit to wartime Kyiv sent a strong message to Moscow that time is not on Putin's side and Russia should not pin its hopes on a weakening of Western resolve to stand with Ukraine.

Conflict Freedom and Prosperity

UkraineAlert

Feb 16, 2023

Putin’s invasion shatters the myth of Russian-Ukrainian brotherhood

By Taras Kuzio

Vladimir Putin's genocidal invasion of Ukraine has shattered the myth of Russian-Ukrainian brotherhood and represents the point of no return in the relationship between the post-Soviet neighbors, writes Taras Kuzio.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Feb 16, 2023

Rebuilding Ukraine: Private sector role can help counter corruption concerns

By Suriya Evans-Pritchard Jayanti

Recent corruption allegations have shaken international confidence in the Ukrainian authorities but Ukraine's vibrant private sector benefits from broadly positive perceptions and should play a leading role in rebuilding efforts.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Feb 14, 2023

Russia’s new offensive will test the morale of Putin’s mobilized masses

By Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin's desperation to regain the military initiative in Ukraine is leading to suicidal tactics that are undermining morale among hundreds of thousands of recently mobilized Russian troops, writes Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Feb 14, 2023

ECHR ruling confirms Russian invasion of Ukraine began in 2014

By Zakhar Tropin

A recent ECHR ruling recognizing Russian control over so-called separatist republics in eastern Ukraine since 2014 is an important step forward in the quest to hold Moscow accountable for aggression against Ukraine.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Feb 14, 2023

The path to peace in Ukraine runs directly through Putin’s red lines

By Oleksiy Goncharenko

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches the one-year mark, the Western response is still being undermined by exaggerated fears of escalation and misplaced concerns over the dangers of “provoking Putin," writes Oleksiy Goncharenko.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Feb 9, 2023

Is Putin’s Russia heading for collapse like its Czarist and Soviet predecessors?

By Taras Byk

Vladimir Putin's disastrous invasion of Ukraine is sparking debate over the possibility of a new Russian collapse. Could today's Russian Federation be facing the same fate as its Czarist and Soviet predecessors?

Central Asia Civil Society

UkraineAlert

Feb 9, 2023

Vladimir Putin must not be allowed to bankrupt the Ukrainian breadbasket

By Andriy Vadaturskyy

Ukraine's strategically crucial agricultural sector has been hard hit by the full-scale Russian invasion of the country and desperately needs international support in order to survive in wartime conditions, writes Andriy Vadaturskyy.

Conflict Economy & Business

UkraineAlert

Feb 9, 2023

Countering Russian threats to global financial security

By Benton Coblentz

Russia and its proxies have long exploited the rules-based global financial system for their personal gain and in service of Moscow’s geopolitical strategy, but the invasion of Ukraine has sparked calls for counter measures.

Conflict Corruption

UkraineAlert

Feb 7, 2023

The Belarusian opposition can help defeat Putin in Ukraine

By Stephen Nix, Mark Dietzen

Belarus has played a key supporting role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine but the democratic Belarusian opposition recognizes that defeating Putin can lead to the downfall of their own dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

Belarus Conflict