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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

Lessons from the Cuban Missile Crisis: Putin is no Khrushchev

UkraineAlert May 13, 2025

Drone superpower: Ukrainian wartime innovation offers lessons for NATO

By David Kirichenko

Today’s Ukraine is now a drone superpower with an innovative domestic defense industry that can provide its NATO allies with important lessons in the realities of twenty-first century warfare, writes David Kirichenko.
Conflict Defense Industry
Lessons from the Cuban Missile Crisis: Putin is no Khrushchev

UkraineAlert May 6, 2025

The shadow of 1930s appeasement hangs over US-led peace talks

By Oleksandr Merezhko

As the world prepares to mark the eightieth anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, the shadow of events leading up to World War II hangs over efforts to end Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine, writes Oleksandr Merezhko.
Conflict European Union
Lessons from the Cuban Missile Crisis: Putin is no Khrushchev

UkraineAlert Apr 17, 2025

The Ukrainian army is now Europe’s most credible security guarantee

By Pavlo Verkhniatskyi

As Europe confronts the new geopolitical realities of an expansionist Russia and an isolationist United States, the continent’s most credible security guarantee is now the Ukrainian Armed Forces, writes Pavlo Verkhniatskyi.
Conflict Defense Industry

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Nov 7, 2024

Donald Trump’s election victory fuels hopes and fears in Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Donald Trump’s election win has sparked alarm in Ukraine, where many fear he will end US support for the country. However, some war-weary Ukrainians hope he can help end the Russian invasion, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Elections

UkraineAlert

Nov 7, 2024

The West must respond to Russia’s rapidly escalating hybrid warfare

By Doug Livermore

Russia’s hybrid war against the West is escalating rapidly and requires a far firmer collective response, writes Doug Livermore.

Conflict Cybersecurity

UkraineAlert

Nov 5, 2024

Putin’s 2022 ‘peace proposal’ was a blueprint for the destruction of Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

New details of talks between Russia and Ukraine during spring 2022 confirm that Putin’s alleged peace proposal was in fact a call for unconditional surrender and a blueprint for the destruction of the Ukrainian state, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Nov 5, 2024

Ukraine needs Western support to boost its nuclear energy potential

By Stephen Blank

An energy equipment deal with Bulgaria offers Ukraine a chance to boost its nuclear power generation as the country braces for winter blackouts amid Russia’s energy infrastructure bombing campaign, writes Stephen Blank.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2024

Ukrainians brace for blackouts ahead of Russian winter air offensive

By Aura Sabadus

A recent lull in Russian missile attacks has led many Ukrainians to conclude that the Kremlin is stockpiling ahead of a major winter air offensive targeting Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure, writes Aura Sabadus.

Conflict Geopolitics & Energy Security

UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2024

Putin’s North Korean escalation is a direct result of Western weakness

By Peter Dickinson

The arrival of North Korean soldiers on the battlefields of Europe is the result of more than a decade of weak Western responses to escalating Russian aggression in Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Oct 31, 2024

Russia’s economy is overheating but Putin cannot change course

By Alexander Mertens

Russia’s wartime economy is in danger of overheating due to a combination of record military spending, sanctions pressures, and runaway inflation, but Vladimir Putin dare not change course, writes Alexander Mertens.

Conflict Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

Oct 29, 2024

Putin’s war on Ukrainian heritage: Russia bombs first Soviet skyscraper

By Peter Dickinson

This week’s targeted Russian bombing of Kharkiv’s iconic Derzhprom building was the latest in a series of attacks on Ukrainian heritage sites that many regard as evidence of a deliberate Kremlin campaign to erase Ukraine’s national identity, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Oct 29, 2024

Putin is creating the conditions for Russian victory in Ukraine

By Mykola Bielieskov

Whoever wins the US presidential election, they will inherit a war in Ukraine that requires their urgent attention to prevent a Russian victory that would signal the decline of the West and transform the geopolitical landscape, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Oct 24, 2024

Moldovan and Georgian elections highlight Russia’s regional ambitions

By Katherine Spencer

Russia is playing a key role in elections currently underway in Moldova and Georgia, underlining Moscow’s determination to retain its regional influence despite challenges created by the invasion of Ukraine, writes Katherine Spencer.

Civil Society Conflict
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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
Lessons from the Cuban Missile Crisis: Putin is no Khrushchev

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
Lessons from the Cuban Missile Crisis: Putin is no Khrushchev

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
Lessons from the Cuban Missile Crisis: Putin is no Khrushchev

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.

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UkraineAlert

Nov 23, 2022

Lessons from the Cuban Missile Crisis: Putin is no Khrushchev

By Harlan Ullman

The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis may offer some useful insights as Western leaders seek the right response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent nuclear saber-rattling over Ukraine, writes Harlan Ullman.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Nov 22, 2022

Putin’s peace ploy is a ruse to rearm

By Dennis Soltys

Russia is currently calling for a return to the negotiating table but Ukrainian leaders are convinced Vladimir Putin is merely seeking to buy time in order to regroup and rearm before the next phase of his invasion.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Nov 22, 2022

Ukraine must be allowed to strike back against targets inside Russia

By Ira Straus

In order to defeat Putin and end the war, Ukraine must be allowed to strike back inside Russia. At present, this is not possible due to restrictions imposed by Ukraine's overly cautious international allies, writes Ira Straus.

Arms Control Conflict

UkraineAlert

Nov 20, 2022

Putin’s invasion has strengthened the case for Ukrainian NATO membership

By Taras Kuzio

Vladimir Putin's ongoing invasion has highlighted the dangers of allowing Ukraine to exist in a geopolitical gray zone and strengthened arguments for the country's post-war NATO integration, writes Taras Kuzio.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Nov 17, 2022

Kherson euphoria highlights the folly of a premature peace with Putin

By Peter Dickinson

Footage of the euphoric scenes in liberated Kherson should be compulsory viewing for anyone who still believes in the possibility of a negotiated settlement between Ukraine and Russia, argues Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Nov 16, 2022

Ukrainian victory can deal a decisive blow to Russian imperialism

By Danylo Lubkivsky

Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine is an attempt to drag the world back to an era of imperial aggression. The best way to make sure he fails is to provide Ukraine with the arms and financial support it needs to win the war.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Nov 14, 2022

Odesa rejects Catherine the Great as Putin’s invasion makes Russia toxic

By Oleksiy Goncharenko

Work is underway to dismantle a controversial monument to Russian Empress Catherine the Great in Ukrainian Black Sea port city Odesa as Vladimir Putin's invasion forces Ukrainians to rethink historic ties with Russia.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Nov 14, 2022

Ukraine needs urgent help to counter Putin’s energy infrastructure attacks

By Aura Sabadus

Ukraine urgently needs international support in order to counter Moscow's campaign of airstrikes against the country's energy infrastructure and prevent Putin from freezing Ukrainians into submission this winter.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Nov 10, 2022

US national interests are best served by stopping Vladimir Putin in Ukraine

By Steven Pifer

As Ukraine defends itself against a full-scale Russian invasion, continued American support is not only the morally correct position but also in the national interests of the United States, writes Steven Pifer.

Conflict Economic Sanctions

UkraineAlert

Nov 10, 2022

Battle of Kherson: Russian retreat confirms Putin is losing the war

By Andriy Zagorodnyuk

The war is still far from over, but Ukraine's victory in the Battle of Kherson may eventually come to be seen as one of the key turning points in the defeat of Vladimir Putin’s invasion, writes Andriy Zagorodnyuk.

Conflict Freedom and Prosperity
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