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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

Jan 29, 2026

Ukraine changes tone on Belarus and engages exiled opposition

By Hanna Liubakova

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held his first official meeting with exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya last weekend in the latest indication of a significant Ukrainian policy shift toward the country’s northern neighbor, writes Hanna Liubakova.

Belarus Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jan 29, 2026

Ukraine’s defense tech sector can play a key role in economic security

By Eric K. Hontz

Ukraine’s defense tech and dual-use sector is a rare wartime success story, with over six hundred innovative and combat‑tested firms becoming increasingly attractive to international investors, writes Eric K. Hontz.

Conflict Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2026

Unable to win on the battlefield, Putin escalates war on Ukrainian civilians

By Peter Dickinson

A war crime of staggering proportions is currently unfolding in full public view across Ukraine as Russia methodically bombs the country’s utilities in a calculated bid to freeze millions of civilians in their own homes and spark a humanitarian catastrophe, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Drones

UkraineAlert

Jan 20, 2026

Surrender or freeze: Putin’s winter blitz targets Ukrainian civilians

By Yuliya Kazdobina

Millions of Ukrainians have spent much of January without electricity and heating amid extreme winter weather conditions as Russia ruthlessly bombs Ukraine's civilian infrastructure in a bid to freeze the country into submission, writes Yuliya Kazdobina.

Conflict Crisis Management

UkraineAlert

Jan 20, 2026

Ukraine’s best security guarantee is the ability to strike back inside Russia

By Serhii Kuzan

With Kyiv's Western allies unlikely to risk war with Russia, Ukraine's most realistic security guarantee remains a strong military coupled with the ability to strike targets deep inside Russia, writes Serhii Kuzan.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Jan 15, 2026

Ukraine’s enhanced fortifications are increasing the cost of Putin’s invasion

By David Kirichenko

As Ukraine focuses on preventing further Russian advances, Kyiv is investing in a major upgrade of the country’s defenses. This has resulted in what The Economist recently described as a “massive fortification system” covering much of the Ukrainian battlefield, writes David Kirichenko.

Conflict Defense Technologies

UkraineAlert

Jan 15, 2026

Veterans can shape the future of Ukrainian democracy

By Vasyl Sehin

The participation of military veterans in Ukraine's political life has the potential to dramatically strengthen Ukrainian democracy and safeguard the country's historic transition from centuries of Russian autocracy, writes Vasyl Sehin.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Jan 13, 2026

Putin is weaponizing winter as Russia tries to freeze Ukraine into submission

By Peter Dickinson

Russia is “going all in” to destroy Ukraine’s power system, Ukrainian Deputy Energy Minister Mykola Kolisnyk said on January 13 following the latest in a series of major bombardments targeting civilian energy infrastructure in cities across the country.

Conflict Crisis Management

UkraineAlert

Jan 13, 2026

Putin cannot accept any peace deal that secures Ukrainian statehood

By William Dixon, Maksym Beznosiuk

Putin has no obvious route to victory in 2026 but cannot accept a compromise peace as any settlement that safeguarded Ukrainian independence would be seen in Moscow as an historic Russian defeat, write William Dixon and Maksym Beznosiuk.

Conflict Nationalism

UkraineAlert

Jan 11, 2026

Belarus hosts nuclear-capable Russian missiles despite talk of US thaw

By Mercedes Sapuppo

Russia's recent delivery of nuclear-capable Oreshnik missiles to Belarus is a very deliberate act of nuclear saber-rattling that underlines Belarus's continued role in Putin’s war machine as Minsk seeks to improve ties with the US, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

Belarus Conflict

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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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UkraineAlert

Nov 7, 2022

The international community must prepare for a post-Putin Russia

By Francis M. O’Donnell

With little hope of a meaningful settlement as long as Vladimir Putin remains in power, the international community should seek pathways to a lasting peace with a future post-Putin Russia, writes Francis O’Donnell.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Nov 3, 2022

Will next week’s midterm elections impact US support for Ukraine?

By Peter Dickinson

US backing for Ukraine has been crucial for the country's fight back against Putin's invasion but the campaign leading up to next week's US midterm elections suggests American support cannot be taken for granted.

Conflict Economy & Business

UkraineAlert

Nov 3, 2022

Russia hopes a winter wave of Ukrainian refugees will divide Europe

By Kristen Taylor

Russia's campaign of airstrikes against Ukraine's civilian infrastructure aims to spark a humanitarian crisis and fuel a new winter season refugee wave that Moscow hopes will undermine European support for Ukraine.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Nov 1, 2022

Should Ukraine pursue closer ties with Taiwan?

By Michael Druckman

In recent years China has emerged as Ukraine's leading trade partner but the war unleashed by Vladimir Putin has created a geopolitical climate where closer Taiwan-Ukraine ties may make sense, writes Michael Druckman.

Conflict Digital Policy

UkraineAlert

Nov 1, 2022

Putin’s failing Ukraine invasion proves Russia is no superpower

By Taras Kuzio

Vladimir Putin's failing Ukraine invasion has dramatically undermined the credibility of modern Russia's Great Power pretensions and exposed the dysfunctional reality behind the Kremlin's claims to superpower status.

Conflict Disinformation

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