Stay Updated

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

Jul 4, 2026

Putin may gamble on mobilization to rescue Russia’s Ukraine invasion

By Mykola Bielieskov

With the tide turning in Ukraine's favor on the battlefield and Russian manpower problems mounting, Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin may soon be forced to gamble on a politically risky mass mobilization in order to rescue his invasion, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Jul 4, 2026

Ukraine is showing NATO the future of warfare

By Myroslava Gongadze

Over five years, Ukraine has done more than expose Russia's weaknesses. It has revealed the future of warfare. NATO leaders must now demonstrate at the Ankara Summit that they are ready for the new security environment, writes Myroslava Gongadze.

Conflict Defense Technologies

UkraineAlert

Jul 2, 2026

The West can learn from Ukraine’s success against Russian propaganda

By Ryan Prior

While Ukraine often garners headlines for its drone warfare innovation, the country is also producing a playbook for countering Russian propaganda. This Ukrainian experience offers important lessons for the wider Western world, writes Ryan Prior.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Jun 30, 2026

Ukraine’s blockade of Crimea puts Putin’s greatest victory under threat

By Peter Dickinson

Crimea has long been seen as Vladimir Putin’s greatest victory, but Ukraine's drone blockade is now turning the Russian-occupied peninsula into an embarrassing symbol of imperial overreach, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Defense Technologies

UkraineAlert

Jun 30, 2026

Banning Russian soldiers from the EU is a common sense security measure

By Elena Davlikanova, Tatiana Vorozhko

Supporters of the current proposal to ban Russian military personnel from the EU see it as a common sense security measure in response to the Kremlin's escalating hybrid war against Europe, write Elena Davlikanova and Tatiana Vorozhko.

Conflict Cybersecurity

UkraineAlert

Jun 25, 2026

Belarus is quietly preparing to play a larger role in Russia’s Ukraine war

By Hanna Liubakova

Belarus dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka is not enthusiastic about the prospect of joining Russia’s Ukraine invasion, but he appears to be steadily building up his country’s military capacity in case he finds himself pushed more directly into the war, writes Hanna Liubakova.

Belarus Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jun 25, 2026

The West can learn from Ukraine’s AI future vision beyond the battlefield

By Andrew D’Anieri

The US and Europe are already looking to Ukraine for the next generation of defense technologies. As Western countries debate their own AI strategies, they would likewise do well to examine Ukraine as a similar starting point for further innovation, writes Andrew D’Anieri.

Artificial Intelligence Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jun 23, 2026

Putin vowed to demilitarize Ukraine. Instead, he created a major military power.

By Peter Dickinson

When Putin launched the full-scale invasion in 2022, he identified the “demilitarization” of Ukraine as one his two primary war aims. It is now clear that he has failed in the most spectacular fashion imaginable, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Jun 23, 2026

Ukraine tightens drone blockade of Russian-occupied Crimea

By Maksym Beznosiuk, William Dixon

Ukraine is currently conducting a mid-range drone strike campaign aiming to cut access to Russian-occupied Crimea and place the Black Sea peninsula under a logistics lockdown, write Maksym Beznosiuk and William Dixon.

Conflict Defense Technologies

UkraineAlert

Jun 23, 2026

Russia intensifies shadow war to undermine support for Ukraine

By Zahar Hryniv

Russia is waging an escalating shadow war against the West as the Kremlin attempts to intimidate Europe and deter further support for Ukraine, writes Zahar Hryniv.

Conflict Cybersecurity

spotlight

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.

The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values, and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia, and Central Asia in the East.

Follow us on social media
and support our work

Content

UkraineAlert

Sep 4, 2022

Rigged Russian referendums: Putin’s plan to annex occupied Ukraine

By Olga Aivazovska

Western leaders must clearly signal to the Kremlin that any attempt to stage fake referendums and annex Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine will result in increased sanctions, writes Olga Aivazovska.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Sep 2, 2022

Russia’s self-defeating invasion: Why Vladimir Putin has lost Ukraine forever

By Taras Kuzio

The Russian invasion of Ukraine aimed to extinguish Ukrainian statehood and return the country to the Kremlin orbit. Instead, the war unleashed by Putin has sparked an unprecedented wave of de-Russification.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Sep 1, 2022

Death of Mikhail Gorbachev highlights Europe’s lingering memory divide

By Peter Dickinson

The death of Mikhail Gorbachev has highlighted the memory divide between Western Europe and the countries of the former Eastern Bloc that also shapes contemporary attitudes toward Putin's imperial agenda.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Sep 1, 2022

Flawed assumptions hamper Western response to Russia’s Ukraine War

By Glenn Chafetz, Richard D. Hooker, Jr.

The Western response to Russia's Ukraine invasion is being undermined by flawed assumptions over the danger of a possible nuclear escalation and the need to maintain a workable relationship with Russia.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Aug 31, 2022

Russia must be held accountable for committing genocide in Ukraine

By Danielle Johnson

Efforts to hold Russia accountable for genocide in Ukraine will involve war crimes trials but must also focus on the broader challenge of addressing Russia's historical sense of impunity, writes Danielle Johnson

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Aug 30, 2022

The Ukrainian military must reorganize to defeat Russia

By Richard D. Hooker, Jr.

Ukraine has achieved military miracles to derail Russia's invasion plans but reorganization of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is necessary if the country is to be fully liberated from Russian occupation, writes Richard D. Hooker, Jr.

Conflict Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

Aug 30, 2022

Decolonizing Crimean history

By Oleksandra Gaidai

A new online educational initiative is aiming to decolonize Crimean history and challenge the problematic international tendency to view the lands of the former Soviet Union through a Russian prism.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Aug 25, 2022

Amnesty announces review as Ukraine report backlash continues

By Lillian Posner

Amnesty International has announced an independent review of a controversial report that accused the Ukrainian military of endangering civilians and was subsequently used by the Kremlin to justify war crimes.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Aug 24, 2022

Ukraine’s six key conditions for peace talks with Putin’s Russia

By Anders Åslund

After six months of battlefield setbacks in Ukraine, there are indications that Vladimir Putin is seeking a return to the negotiating table. Anders Åslund sets out six key conditions for Ukraine ahead of any potential peace talks.

Conflict Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion

UkraineAlert

Aug 23, 2022

Ukraine needs more US support to win its fight for freedom 

By Cory Gardner, Andrew J. Futey

Ukraine's resilient response to Vladimir Putin's invasion has inspired the world but the country is now in need of increased US military, economic, and diplomatic support in order to secure an historic victory over Russia.

Conflict Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion