UkraineAlert

UkraineAlert

UkraineAlert is a comprehensive online publication that provides regular news and analysis on developments in Ukraine’s politics, economy, civil society, and culture. UkraineAlert sources analysis and commentary from a wide-array of thought-leaders, politicians, experts, and activists from Ukraine and the global community. UkraineAlert has become a major publication in Ukraine’s news landscape and has established itself not only through its quality of content but also significant partnerships with English, Ukrainian, and Russian-language media through the country.

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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

Ukraine’s new drone blitz cuts Russian oil refining capacity by 30 percent

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
Ukraine’s new drone blitz cuts Russian oil refining capacity by 30 percent

UkraineAlert Aug 27, 2026

Ukrainians are not superheroes with endless powers of resilience

By Lauren Van Metre, Elena Davlikanova

By celebrating Ukrainian resilience as an almost superhuman quality, the international community risks obscuring the much less glamorous reality that Ukrainians are actually ordinary people who have endured extraordinary violence for far too long, write Lauren Van Metre and Elena Davlikanova.
Civil Society Conflict
Ukraine’s new drone blitz cuts Russian oil refining capacity by 30 percent

UkraineAlert Aug 25, 2026

A cultural renaissance is reshaping national identity in wartime Ukraine

By Davis Richardson

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is fueling a defiant cultural outpouring that is redefining and strengthening Ukrainian national identity in ways that challenge centuries of Kremlin imperialism, writes Davis Richardson.
Civil Society Conflict

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Mar 28, 2019

Time to play hardball on reforming Ukraine’s security service

By Oleksandra Ustinova and Steven Pifer

In June 2018, Ukraine’s parliament adopted the Law on National Security, with the help of the United States and other international partners, including NATO and the European Union. Among other things, the law set the frame for the functions of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and opened the door for comprehensive reform of that […]

Conflict Corruption

UkraineAlert

Mar 28, 2019

The Kremlin’s top eight lies about Ukraine’s presidential race

By Tetyana Matychak

On March 31, Ukrainians go to the polls to elect their sixth president. An openly pro-Russian candidate is unlikely to win. However, Moscow is watching closely and cares about the outcome. What is it saying about the election? We analyzed the most widespread Kremlin manipulations about Ukraine’s presidential election on Russian state-controlled media in March. […]

Civil Society Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Mar 25, 2019

What to expect from Ukraine’s completely unpredictable presidential election

By Brian Mefford

On March 31, Ukrainians will select their sixth president. The election is seen a referendum on the incumbent Poroshenko administration and his record since the watershed Euromaidan Revolution that decisively moved Ukraine onto a pro-Western path. Polls put political newcomer Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the lead, with Poroshenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko fighting for […]

Elections Political Reform

UkraineAlert

Mar 25, 2019

Some things never change

By Andreas Umland

Ukraine’s presidential election is less than a week away, and no candidate will win outright with fifty percent. Comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy leads in the polls and will certainly be in the run-off election on April 21. The big question is whether he will face incumbent President Petro Poroshenko or former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Poroshenko […]

Elections Eurozone

UkraineAlert

Mar 25, 2019

The real Russian candidate in Ukraine’s presidential race

By Anders Åslund

On March 22, nine days before the Ukrainian presidential election, Ukraine’s pro-Russian presidential candidate Yuriy Boyko went to Moscow to meet Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev without prior announcement. It’s strange for a presidential candidate to visit a leader of a country with which it is at war, but that was only the beginning of […]

Corruption Elections

UkraineAlert

Mar 21, 2019

Real advice, not platitudes, keeps Kyiv on reform path

By Steven Pifer and William B. Taylor

We read with interest Adrian Karatnycky’s piece “Viceroys in Kyiv.”  We respect Mr. Karatnycky but have a different perspective. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. We each served as the American ambassador to Ukraine and, in that capacity as well as in other positions in the US government, urged our Ukrainian counterparts to move on reform—both in […]

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Mar 21, 2019

Viceroys in Kyiv?

By Adrian Karatnycky

How should Western diplomats advance democracy and the rule of law? In closed societies, as the late US diplomat Mark Palmer argued, US ambassadors should be clear voices for human rights and due process. They should monitor attacks on human rights, attend trials of dissidents, and speak out when they see major violations of freedom. […]

Corruption International Financial Institutions

UkraineAlert

Mar 19, 2019

Want justice? In Ukraine, you may have to do it yourself

By Diane Francis

Viktor Handziuk speaks softly about his only child, daughter Kateryna, and how she defended classmates from bullies when growing up. Kateryna grew and took on Ukraine’s bullies by participating in the Orange and Euromaidan Revolutions and by becoming a lawyer and public administrator in Kherson, a city of 290,000 just one hour from Crimea. But […]

Civil Society Corruption

UkraineAlert

Mar 18, 2019

Why Ukraine should abandon efforts to criminalize illicit enrichment

By Leonid Antonenko

In late February, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine declared the criminal code’s article criminalizing illicit enrichment unconstitutional. The response among activists, independent media, and Western embassies was unanimous: the decision was a massive step back for Ukraine. It undid the small but real progress that the country had made toward prosecuting corrupt officials. However, this […]

Corruption Northern Europe

UkraineAlert

Mar 18, 2019

Bad advice

By Stephen Blank

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko recently advocated building intermediate-range ballistic missiles and cruise missiles to target and presumably use against Russia. No doubt Poroshenko calculated that he might gain a political advantage during the final days of a tough campaign for reelection by adopting this hawkish stance. And he may have also thought it made military […]

Conflict Defense Industry
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spotlight

Resilience in the face of adversity

Ukraine’s transformation

Ukraine has moved tentatively toward an open society and market economy since independence. The country has held several democratic elections and made halting progress in addressing corruption and state control in its economy. Since the 2014 Maidan Revolution, Ukraine has undertaken significant governance and economic reform and moved decisively toward a Europe-Atlantic foreign policy. Since 2022, Ukraine has resiliently continued to advance some reforms despite fighting for its very existence against the full-scale Russian invasion.

Learn more about Ukraine
Ukraine’s new drone blitz cuts Russian oil refining capacity by 30 percent

UkraineAlert Dec 5, 2024

Ukraine’s entrepreneurial class can drive the country’s economic recovery

The Ukrainian SME sector has demonstrated remarkable wartime resilience and is poised to be at the forefront of efforts to create a modern, innovative, postwar economy, writes Anton Waschuk.

Read More
Ukraine’s new drone blitz cuts Russian oil refining capacity by 30 percent

UkraineAlert Oct 1, 2024

Ukraine needs international investors to maintain defense tech momentum

By Mykhailo Fedorov

Ukraine’s rapidly expanding defense tech sector can play a game-changing role in the war against Russia but Ukrainian companies need international investment, writes Ukraine’s Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov.
Artificial Intelligence Conflict
Ukraine’s new drone blitz cuts Russian oil refining capacity by 30 percent

UkraineAlert Jun 13, 2024

Ukraine officially embraces English as historic westward pivot continues

By Oleksiy Goncharenko

By officially embracing English, Ukrainians aim to support their country’s historic pivot away from Moscow and return to the European community of nations, writes Oleksiy Goncharenko.
Civil Society Conflict

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.

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Content

UkraineAlert

Nov 10, 2026

Ukraine’s new drone blitz cuts Russian oil refining capacity by 30 percent

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine has renewed attacks on Putin's energy industry in recent days, conducting a series of powerful strikes that have reportedly cut Russian oil refining capacity by around 30 percent and sparked fuel shortages across the country, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Nov 10, 2026

Europe sees surge in suspected Russian hybrid warfare incidents

By Maksym Beznosiuk

Europe has witnessed a surge in suspected Russian hybrid warfare incidents in recent weeks. This is fueling concerns that Vladimir Putin is escalating his intimidation campaign against Ukraine’s partners, writes Maksym Beznosiuk.

Conflict Cybersecurity

UkraineAlert

Nov 5, 2026

Putin suffers Balkan setbacks as Russia struggles to retain influence

By Michael Getto

Russia’s recent setbacks in the Balkans are a reminder of the foreign policy challenges facing the Kremlin as the full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches a sixth year with no end in sight, writes Michael Getto.

Conflict Elections

UkraineAlert

Nov 5, 2026

Last week’s brief Ukraine ceasefire did not stop Russian attacks on civilians

By Kristina Hook

A recent humanitarian ceasefire around the southern Ukrainian city of Oleshky made it possible to evacuate hundreds of residents, but Russian attacks on civilians elsewhere in Ukraine continue, writes Kristina Hook.

Civil Society Conflict

UkraineAlert

Nov 3, 2026

Europe must weigh rising Ukraine costs against higher price of Russian victory

By Peter Dickinson

If Russia succeeds in overrunning an underfunded and exhausted Ukraine, the consequences for Europe will be catastrophic and the price tag of stopping an emboldened Putin will dwarf the current cost of supporting Kyiv, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Nov 3, 2026

A strong defense industry may be Ukraine’s best security guarantee

By Leonid Baratz

Ukrainians have little faith in written guarantees and are well aware that nobody is going to fight Russia on their behalf. Instead, their most realistic security guarantee is a strong Ukrainian military backed by a powerful domestic defense industry, writes Leonid Baratz.

Conflict Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

Oct 29, 2026

Ukraine’s drone defenses debunk the myth of inevitable Russian victory

By Mykola Bielieskov

Ukraine’s emergence since 2022 as a drone superpower has made international headlines, but the role of drone-based air defenses on the battlefield has not yet received as much attention as it arguably deserves, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Conflict Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

Oct 29, 2026

Putin’s quest to reclaim ‘historical Russian lands’ is a recipe for endless war

By Peter Dickinson

Russian President Vladimir Putin's insistence that Ukraine is "historically Russian land" reveals the extent of his imperial ambitions and represents a recipe for endless war, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Oct 27, 2026

UN report: Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power grid are a ‘crime against humanity’

By Kateryna Odarchenko

Russia’s bombardment of Ukraine’s civilian power grid qualifies as a crime against humanity, according to a new report by the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, writes Kateryna Odarchenko.

Conflict Drones

UkraineAlert

Oct 27, 2026

European infrastructure is vulnerable as Putin escalates Russia’s hybrid war

By Maksym Beznosiuk

Putin is currently looking to exploit Europe’s vulnerabilities as he seeks ways to isolate Ukraine and cut off Kyiv’s European aid lifeline. Civilian infrastructure may be one of the continent’s weakest links, writes Maksym Beznosiuk.

Conflict Critical Infrastructure Policy
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