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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

Sep 17, 2026

Ukraine can do more to counter Russia’s illicit finance threat

By Matthew McGlynn

For more than four years, Ukraine has impressed global audiences with the country’s ability to defend itself against Russia on land, at sea, and in the air. Illicit finance is another important front in the fight against Russian aggression, writes Matthew McGlynn.

Conflict Cybersecurity

UkraineAlert

Sep 17, 2026

Putin is escalating against NATO but a Baltic incursion remains unlikely

By James Rice

The recent escalation in Russian gray zone aggression across Europe has sparked a lively debate over how far the Kremlin may be prepared to go, but a Russian attack on the Baltic states remains unlikely, writes James Rice.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Sep 15, 2026

With Putin overextended in Ukraine, Armenia is turning away from Russia

By Joseph Epstein

Every day Ukraine keeps fighting, Russian influence grows weaker in the countries of the ex-USSR that Moscow refers to as the “near abroad.” Nowhere is this Russian retreat clearer than in Armenia, writes Joseph Epstein.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Sep 13, 2026

Learning from Ukraine’s unrivaled experience of Russian cyber warfare

By Iryna Volnytska

No country in the world today knows more about Russian cyber warfare than Ukraine, but further steps are required in order to help Kyiv’s partners make the most of Ukraine’s unrivaled experience, writes Iryna Volnytska.

Conflict Cybersecurity

UkraineAlert

Sep 11, 2026

Ukrainian police are preventing Russia from turning civilians into saboteurs

By Andrii Niebytov, Clara Kaluderovic

Since spring 2024, Russia has been waging a campaign far behind the front lines featuring arson, sabotage, and terrorist attacks using Ukrainians who are recruited online, deceived, and discarded, write Andrii Niebytov and Clara Kaluderovic.

Conflict Infrastructure Protection

UkraineAlert

Sep 10, 2026

Russia’s escalating bombing campaign is terrorizing Ukrainian schoolchildren

By Shelby Magid

Russia's escalating bombardment of Ukrainian cities is terrorizing a generation of Ukrainian schoolchildren who are being prevented from attending classes or forced to spend days in bomb shelters, writes Shelby Magid.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Sep 10, 2026

As Russia’s invasion falters, Putin boasts of imaginary victories

By Peter Dickinson

Putin was caught lying about imaginary Russian victories again in September. His habit of exaggerating battlefield gains reflects mounting unease over the credibility gap between the Kremlin’s superpower pretensions and his army’s underwhelming performance in Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Sep 8, 2026

Ukrainian drone strikes are disarming Russia’s energy weapon

By Ana Lejava

For years, Russia wielded its energy capacity as a weapon against its neighbors to manipulate, coerce, and control. Ukraine’s strategic bombing campaign is now turning this energy weapon against Moscow itself, writes Ana Lejava.

Central Asia Conflict

UkraineAlert

Sep 8, 2026

Putin welcomes Trump’s peace envoys but has no intention of ending the war

By Peter Dickinson

Trump’s envoys continue to discuss win-win scenarios, but Putin is playing a zero sum game. His invasion of Ukraine is not a land grab or a geopolitical real estate deal. It is an attempt to reverse the Soviet collapse and revive the Russian Empire, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Sep 3, 2026

Putin cannot defeat NATO but he could divide and discredit the alliance

By Peter Dickinson

If Russian President Vladimir Putin decides to attack NATO, his goal will be to divide and discredit the alliance rather than actually defeating it, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Defense Policy

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Content

UkraineAlert

Jul 6, 2022

Ukraine defies Russia and launches electricity exports to EU neighbors

By Aura Sabadus

Ukraine’s remarkable wartime synchronization with the electricity grid of continental Europe moved up a gear at the end of June with the landmark launch of commercial electricity exports to neighboring Romania.

Conflict Energy Markets & Governance

UkraineAlert

Jul 4, 2022

Why Ukraine loves Boris

By Peter Dickinson

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's domestic approval rating has hit rock bottom but he is the most popular foreign politician in Ukraine thanks to his support for the country in its fight against Vladimir Putin's invasion.

Conflict National Security

UkraineAlert

Jul 3, 2022

Putin’s poisonous anti-Western ideology relies heavily on projection

By Allan Mustard

Vladimir Putin's poisonous anti-Western ideology is rooted in projection of his own authoritarian instincts and outdated assumptions about the adversarial nature of relations between Russia and the democratic world.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Jul 3, 2022

Investing in Ukraine’s brains is vital for the country’s post-war prosperity

By Gerson S. Sher

International support for the development of Ukraine's education and tech sectors could hold the key to a strong and sovereign Ukrainian state once the current war with Putin's Russia is over, writes Gerson S. Sher.

Conflict Cybersecurity

UkraineAlert

Jul 1, 2022

With all eyes on Ukraine, Vladimir Putin targets domestic dissidents

By Doug Klain

While international attention focuses on Vladimir Putin’s genocidal war in Ukraine, the Russian government is accelerating its brutal crackdown on any remaining expressions of anti-regime dissent on the domestic front.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jun 30, 2022

Goodwill gestures and de-Nazification: Decoding Putin’s Ukraine War lexicon

By Peter Dickinson

From “goodwill gestures” to “de-Nazification” and “reclaiming Russian lands,” the Atlantic Council's Peter Dickinson decodes some of the key phrases from the lexicon of Putin’s Ukraine War into plain English.

Central Asia Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jun 29, 2022

Vladimir Putin’s Ukrainian genocide is proceeding in plain view

By Taras Kuzio

Western policymakers should be in no doubt that the many different Russian war crimes currently taking place in Ukraine are all part of a coherent plan developed by Vladimir Putin to commit genocide.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Jun 28, 2022

Fear of confronting Putin will lead to Russian victory in Ukraine

By Richard D. Hooker, Jr.

So far, the war in Ukraine has taught Vladimir Putin that NATO and the EU will go to great lengths to avoid confronting him. This has grave consequences for Ukraine itself and for the wider international community.

Conflict European Union

UkraineAlert

Jun 27, 2022

Odesa rejects Russia: Putin’s Ukraine War turns old allies into bitter enemies

By Oleksiy Goncharenko

Putin has long claimed to be the champion of pro-Russian Ukrainians. However, the Ukrainian regions most closely associated with pro-Kremlin sentiment have also been hardest hit by the current invasion.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Jun 24, 2022

Ukraine edges closer to EU dream despite horrors of Putin’s war

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine has this week secured official EU candidate status as the country seeks to advance its European integration ambitions while also defending itself against an ongoing Russian invasion.

Conflict Democratic Transitions