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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

Mar 25, 2022

Ukraine’s southern capital Odesa prepares to repel Russian invasion

By Oleksiy Goncharenko

Vladimir Putin must take Odesa if he wishes to subjugate the whole of Ukraine but the predominantly Russian-speaking Black Sea port city is in defiant mood amid preparations to repel the Russian invaders.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Mar 23, 2022

Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine War can end in only two ways: Genocide or defeat

By Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that he regards Ukrainians as Russians and does not recognize Ukraine’s right to exist. Unless he is defeated, his Ukraine invasion may deteriorate into a genocide in the heart of Europe.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Mar 21, 2022

Vladimir Putin’s criminal war has killed the myth of Russian-Ukrainian unity

By Alexander Khrebet

The Russian invasion of Ukraine was meant to secure Vladimir Putin’s place in history and reunify what Moscow views as the divided lands of historic Russia. Instead, it has killed the myth of Russian-Ukrainian unity.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Mar 21, 2022

Fear of provoking Putin is leading the Western world toward disaster

By Ilya Timtchenko

Western policy toward Russia has long been shaped by fear of provoking Vladimir Putin but this caution has only served to encourage further acts of Russian aggression culminating in the current war in Ukraine.

Conflict
European Union

UkraineAlert

Mar 20, 2022

Bold Ukrainians defy Putin’s invasion and join European electricity grid

By Aura Sabadus

Despite the existential challenges posed by Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country, Ukraine has managed in recent weeks to complete the country’s connection to the European electricity grid.

Conflict
Energy & Environment

UkraineAlert

Mar 19, 2022

Putin drank the Kremlin Kool-Aid

By Taras Kuzio

Russian President Vladimir Putin drank the Kremlin Kool-Aid and seems to have sincerely believed his disastrous Ukraine war would be an imperial triumph with minimal costs on the domestic and international fronts.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Mar 18, 2022

Why Russia’s anti-war movement matters

By Dylan Myles-Primakoff

While opinion polls consistently indicate strong Russian public support for Putin’s Ukraine War, the country’s anti-war movement also matters and may actually be larger than it at first appears.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Mar 17, 2022

Vladimir Putin’s war to crush Ukraine is part of a long Kremlin tradition

By Kristina Hook

Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine has stunned the world with its criminal brutality but the Russian invasion is actually very much in line with a long tradition of Kremlin policies aimed at crushing Ukraine.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Mar 17, 2022

The EU needs Ukraine

By Paul Grod

The European Union needs to embrace Ukraine’s membership aspirations in order to demonstrate its own commitment to European values and its opposition to Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian alternative.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

Mar 16, 2022

Vladimir Putin has almost no chance of successfully occupying Ukraine

By Ben Connable

Vladimir Putin is throwing Russia’s full military might into the invasion of Ukraine but any attempt to occupy large parts of the country is almost certainly doomed to fail.

Conflict
Russia

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UkraineAlert

May 16, 2022

Ukraine War Diary: Everyday life is slowly returning to Fortress Kyiv

By Vitaly Sych

Ukraine War Diary: A semblance of normality is returning to life in the capital but Kyiv remains a fortress city where a strong military presence and an absence of children serve as constant reminders that the country is at war.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

May 15, 2022

Will Putin use chemical weapons in Ukraine?

By Ben Connable

Fears are mounting that Vladimir Putin may seek to save his failing Ukraine invasion by deploying chemical weapons, but there are reasons to believe that the Russian army is not capable of biological warfare.

Arms Control
Conflict

UkraineAlert

May 15, 2022

Western advocates of appeasement need a crash course in Putinology

By Anders Åslund

The war in Ukraine has exposed the fundamental failure of international audiences to appreciate the true nature of modern Russia. Western advocates of appeasement clearly need a crash course in Putinology.

Conflict
Disinformation

UkraineAlert

May 14, 2022

Ukraine wins Eurovision as European voters show song contest solidarity

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine's Eurovision victory is a soft power success story that underlines the country's dominance over Russia on the information front while highlighting the strength of international solidary and support for Ukraine.

Conflict
Europe & Eurasia

UkraineAlert

May 12, 2022

Independent Ukraine’s first president Leonid Kravchuk dies aged 88

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine’s first post-Soviet president Leonid Kravchuk passed away on May 10. He is best remembered for his leading role in the 1991 Ukrainian Declaration of Independence and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Conflict
Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

May 12, 2022

Putin’s Imperial War: Russia unveils plans to annex southern Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Kremlin officials have underlined the expansionist imperial agenda driving Putin's Ukraine war by announcing plans to officially annex Ukraine's Kherson Oblast and incorporate it into the Russian Federation.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

May 11, 2022

Kazakhstan cancels Victory Day in protest over Putin’s Ukraine War

By Wilder Alejandro Sánchez, Kamila Auyezova

Kazakhstan's recent decision to cancel the country's annual WWII Victory Day parade was a small but significant indication of Nur-Sultan's opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Central Asia
Conflict

UkraineAlert

May 8, 2022

Vladimir Putin’s WWII victory cult is a recipe for international aggression

By Andrej Lushnycky

Vladimir Putin has transformed Russia's traditional Victory Day commemorations marking the defeat of Nazi Germany into a nationalistic celebration of militarism that helps justify Moscow's war of aggression in Ukraine.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert

May 6, 2022

Countering the Kremlin: America must not wait for European unity

By Olexander Scherba

Vladimir Putin's ongoing invasion of Ukraine marks the culmination of Russia’s long campaign to corrupt Europe. The EU condemns the war while at the same time sponsoring it, writes Olexander Scherba.

Conflict
Corruption

UkraineAlert

May 6, 2022

Making Putin pay: Russia must finance the rebuilding of post-war Ukraine

By Kira Rudik

Making Putin pay: Russian assets currently frozen in the West could potentially be used to finance the rebuilding of post-war Ukraine but this will require both creativity and political will from Western leaders.

Conflict
Economy & Business