US State Department to allocate short-term funding for program documenting abduction of Ukrainian children – Reuters

The US State Department announced that, as of Thursday, March 27, a program documenting the abduction of Ukrainian children has secured short-term funding after being suspended on January 25.

Reuters reported this.

"Funding is being provided for a short period while the Conflict Observatory implementers ensure the proper transfer of the critical data on the children to the appropriate authorities," a State Department spokesperson said on Thursday. "It is part of the standard close-out procedures for terminated programs."

Earlier in March, Democratic lawmakers called on the administration of President Donald Trump to restore funding for the program.

The media reported the possible loss of a considerable amount of information, including:

• satellite images,
• other data on approximately 30,000 children taken from Ukraine.

The initiative, funded by the US government, was implemented by the Humanities Research Laboratory at Yale University. It helped track thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.

The decision to suspend the program was made after Trump ordered a review of what he called the wasteful spending of US taxpayers' money on purposes that do not meet American interests.

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, in connection with the deportation of children.

As reported, the White House Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk, stopped funding the Yale University Humanitarian Research Laboratory, which helped find Ukrainian children abducted by Russia

A group of Democratic lawmakers in the US House of Representatives has urged President Donald Trump's administration to reinstate a program that helps track down Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. The joint letter said the decision means researchers have lost access to a vast amount of information, including satellite imagery and other data, on about 30,000 children taken from Ukraine.

Reuters, citing sources, reported that the State Department's contract cancellation with Yale HRL led to the deletion of $26 million worth of war crimes evidence, which could have implicated Vladimir Putin.

Last week, the State Department denied media reports that it had deleted data on Ukrainian children deported by Russia after funding for a Yale University project that helped find them was cut.

"Funding [for the project – ed.] was terminated based on assessments that we made of several funding sources regarding their compliance with our interests and the interests of America. However, I can say that conspiracy theories, fears, or whatever about deleting data are invalid. It is not true. The data exists.

It was not under the control of the State Department. But we know who controls the data and the website, and we are confident that the data exists, was not deleted, and did not disappear. So that is good news," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.

She noted that "the main thing is the goal that needs to be achieved, not the specific structure within which it is done." Since US and Ukrainian Presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the return of the children, this is "a pretty clear signal that we can continue to work on important issues and achieve results."

For reference:

It is noted that a US government-funded initiative led by the Yale University Humanities Research Laboratory has helped track down thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.

Moreover, the Trump administration will ask Russia to return the Ukrainian children as one of the key steps to build trust.

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