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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

Dec 18, 2025

Prisoner releases are welcome news but talk of a Belarus thaw is premature

By Hanna Liubakova

The freeing of 123 political prisoners in Belarus last week is encouraging news but should not be interpreted as an indication of more fundamental change, writes Hanna Liubakova.

Belarus
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Dec 18, 2025

What’s in the new US defense bill for Ukraine?

By Doug Klain

The NDAA includes the best legislative support from Congress that Ukraine has received all year. At the same time, it also underscores the dramatic reduction in overall US support for Ukraine during 2025, writes Doug Klain.

Conflict
Human Rights

UkraineAlert

Dec 16, 2025

‘Putin is lying’: Zelenskyy visits front to expose false claims of Russian gains

By Peter Dickinson

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy paid a personal visit last week to a front line city that Putin has repeatedly bragged of seizing in order to expose the Russian leader’s habit of lying about battlefield gains, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Dec 16, 2025

The only winner from Ukrainian wartime elections would be Putin

By Yuriy Boyechko

Ukrainians are fighting to defend their democracy against Kremlin authoritarianism, but they are also in no rush to hold wartime elections amid relentless Russian bombardment and with millions of Ukrainians displaced, writes Yuriy Boyechko.

Conflict
Elections

UkraineAlert

Dec 11, 2025

Russia’s insistence on a defenseless Ukraine betrays Putin’s true intentions

By Peter Dickinson

Russia’s key demands during US-led peace talks all appear designed to leave Ukraine disarmed and defenseless. This is a clear indication of Vladimir Putin’s intention to continue his invasion and complete the conquest of Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Dec 10, 2025

Russian drones and blackouts test the resilience of Ukraine’s second city

By Maria Avdeeva

With Putin’s army now advancing to the east and the Russian bombardment of civilian targets intensifying, Kharkiv residents are now facing what may become the most difficult winter of the entire war, writes Maria Avdeeva.

Defense Technologies
Drones

UkraineAlert

Dec 9, 2025

Europe’s choice: Fund Ukraine now or pay a far higher price if Russia wins

By Elena Davlikanova, Lesia Orobets

Europe’s reluctance to pay for Ukraine’s defense is shortsighted, write Elena Davlikanova and Lesia Orobets. If Russia’s invasion succeeds, Europe will soon have to boost defense spending to levels that would completely dwarf the current cost of backing Ukraine.

Conflict
Economic Sanctions

UkraineAlert

Dec 8, 2025

Ukraine’s wartime experience provides blueprint for infrastructure protection

By Oleksandr Bakalinskyi, Maggie McDonough

Since 2014, Ukraine’s critical infrastructure has faced sustained and increasingly sophisticated attacks but continues to function, adapt, and evolve, offering the world one of the most comprehensive case studies for resilience under unrelenting cyber-kinetic pressure, write Oleksandr Bakalinskyi and Maggie McDonough.

Conflict
Cybersecurity

UkraineAlert

Dec 4, 2025

Ukraine’s warning to the West: A bad peace will lead to a bigger war

By Myroslava Gongadze

It is delusional to think that sacrificing Ukraine will satisfy Russia. Instead, a bad peace will only lead to a bigger war, while the price of today’s hesitation will ultimately be far higher than the cost of action, writes Myroslava Gongadze.

Conflict
Corruption

UkraineAlert

Dec 4, 2025

Russia has learned from Ukraine and is now winning the drone war

By David Kirichenko

Ukraine’s more agile army and vibrant tech sector initially gave the country an edge in the drone war against Russia, but Moscow has now regained the initiative thanks to an emphasis on mass and training, writes David Kirichenko.

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.

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Content

UkraineAlert

Oct 30, 2022

The West must not let Putin freeze millions of Ukrainians to death

By Dennis Soltys, Alexander Motyl

Unable to defeat Ukraine on the battlefield, Putin is now deliberately targeting the civilian population and openly threatening to freeze millions of Ukrainians to death. The West must not stand by and let this genocide take place.

Conflict
European Union

UkraineAlert

Oct 27, 2022

A ceasefire would condemn millions of Ukrainians to Russian occupation

By Mark Temnycky

Recent calls for a ceasefire in the Russo-Ukrainian War ignore the fact that millions of Ukrainians remain under Russian occupation and would face an uncertain fate if abandoned to the Kremlin, writes Mark Temnycky.

Conflict
Freedom and Prosperity

UkraineAlert

Oct 26, 2022

The West needs a more united approach to sanctioning Putin’s elite

By David Clark

With Russia's invasion of Ukraine now in its ninth month, it is time for a coordinated approach to sanctioning Putin's elite that reflects the seriousness of the threat they pose to global security, writes David Clark.

Conflict
Corruption

UkraineAlert

Oct 25, 2022

Europe must make this the last winter of weaponized Russian energy exports

By Arseniy Yatsenyuk

Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes to freeze Ukrainians into submission in the coming months while also using energy supply cuts to pressure European leaders into abandoning their support for Ukraine.

Energy Markets & Governance
Energy Transitions

UkraineAlert

Oct 25, 2022

Poll: 86% of Ukrainians want to fight on despite Russian terror bombing

By Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin's campaign to destroy Ukraine's critical civilian infrastructure marks a dramatic escalation in the Russian invasion of Ukraine as the increasingly desperate Russian ruler seeks to avert military defeat.

Conflict
Human Rights

UkraineAlert

Oct 21, 2022

Ukraine’s growing tech sector offers hope amid wartime economic pain

By Dathan Duplichen

Ukraine's tech sector offers a rare glimmer of light amid the economic gloom of Russia's ongoing invasion with Ukrainian IT industry export revenues actually up by 23% during the first six months of 2022.

Conflict
Digital Policy

UkraineAlert

Oct 20, 2022

Classical concert captures Ukraine’s defiant response to Russian invasion

By Jacob Heilbrunn

Ukraine's defiant spirit was on display on October 18 at a Kennedy Center concert organized by the Chopivsky Family Foundation and featuring the New Era Orchestra of Kyiv together with celebrated violinist Joshua Bell.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2022

Winning the peace through democratic progress in post-war Ukraine

By Peter Erben, Gio Kobakhidze

As Ukraine’s army continues to liberate the country from Russian occupation, it is critical that Ukraine’s military success is buttressed by continued democratic progress. Ukraine must not only win the war, but also win the peace.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Oct 18, 2022

Bowing to Putin’s nuclear blackmail will make nuclear war more likely

By Andriy Zagorodnyuk

Giving in to Putin’s nuclear blackmail would not end the war in Ukraine. What it would do is set a disastrous precedent that makes a future nuclear war far more likely while encouraging uncontrolled nuclear proliferation.

Arms Control
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Oct 17, 2022

Ukraine has a Russia problem not a Putin problem

By Taras Kuzio

Ukraine appears poised to defeat Putin's invasion but Russia will continue to pose an existential threat to Ukrainian statehood until Russians learn to accept that Ukraine is a sovereign and independent nation.

Conflict
Democratic Transitions