Musk stops funding group rescuing Ukrainian children abducted by Russia
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Amid Elon Musk's massive cuts to US government funding, the Yale University team that helped rescue hundreds of Ukrainian children kidnapped by the Russian Federation has been suspended.
The Mirror reports.
The businessman, who is also an adviser to the US president from 2025, has slashed billions from US government and foreign aid budgets since Donald Trump appointed him head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in January, forcing vital projects around the world to shut down due to lack of funding.
This includes major initiatives to combat malaria and AIDS in Africa, as well as initiatives to provide access to water in developing countries.
Now, the U.S. spending cuts have been targeted at a group of experts who helped bring home hundreds of Ukrainian children forcibly deported to Russia.
Until now, the US government has funded a team of researchers from Yale University's Humanities Research Laboratory who have used open-source technology to track missing children and shared their findings with Ukrainian authorities to help bring them home.
Thanks to their efforts, hundreds of children have returned home—but now that work will come to an end due to Elon Musk's latest federal funding cuts.
As a reminder, according to the National Information Bureau, Ukraine has confirmed the deportation or forced displacement of 19,546 Ukrainian children. To report a child's disappearance, deportation, or forced displacement, please fill out the online form on the Children of War website.
Additionally, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, reported that as of December 2024, Ukraine had successfully returned 1,032 children from the occupied territories and the Russian Federation since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. This was made possible through President Volodymyr Zelensky's "Bring Kids Back UA" initiative and the efforts of the Save Ukraine charity organization.
It is also worth noting that the International Expert Group "Bring Kids Back UA" plays a crucial role in shaping the priorities and activities of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children. This coalition was formed in early December 2023, with its founding meeting held in Kyiv.
As Rubryka previously reported, one of the first actions taken by Russian occupation authorities in Ukraine is to destroy and erase Ukrainian identity. They burn Ukrainian textbooks, replace signs with Russian ones, and ban any mention of the Ukrainian language. Schoolchildren who remain in the occupied territories are required to attend local schools, where the curriculum is dominated by Russian propaganda.
To stay connected with Ukraine and continue receiving a quality Ukrainian education, many children—often in secret—attend online classes through Ukrainian schools. Rubryka spoke with a public organization that, despite the risks, helps students in the occupied territories catch up on lost knowledge. How they do it and whether this solution works—read more in our article: "Children from occupied territories share a common desire to feel a sense of belonging to Ukraine": how volunteer teachers bring education to children in occupied and front-line territories.
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