Editor’s Note: The Kyiv Independent isn’t a recipient of U.S. foreign aid, and its funding wasn’t affected by the aid freeze.
With the stroke of a pen, U.S. President Donald Trump last week put a freeze on projects that have helped Ukraine become freer and more democratic since the earliest days of its independence in 1991.
The White House ordered a 90-day suspension of U.S. foreign aid-funded projects globally, to ascertain if they aligned with "American interests" and "American values."
The agencies affected include the National Endowment for Democracy, the Food for Peace Emergency Program, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), an organization particularly active in Ukraine.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, USAID has provided Ukraine with $2.6 billion in humanitarian aid, $5 billion in development assistance, and more than $30 billion in direct budget support, helping to rebuild schools after Russian attacks, pay for bomb shelters, advanced medical equipment for hospitals and much more.
Yet USAID's support for Ukraine began well before the full-scale invasion and, according to people who have worked on such projects, their work is vital, and their value immeasurable.
Ukrainian photographer Vladyslav Sodel, who has been capturing USAID’s work in Ukraine for the past eight years, said people "can't even imagine" how deeply all the funds provided by USAID have become woven into Ukrainians' lives "to the point where they don’t even suspect it."
In a post on Facebook, Sodel said this aid ranges from "a bed with a mattress" for war refugees, to "multi-billion-dollar investments" in Ukraine's energy infrastructure that has been ravaged by Russian mass missile attacks.
This "support from the American people" has allowed Ukrainians to "move forward and achieve something greater," he added.
USAID — benefits and misconceptions
Opinion polls show that Americans significantly overestimate the proportion of the U.S. federal budget that is spent on foreign aid, believing it to be around 25 percent when in fact it was only around 1 percent in 2023, amounting to just 0.25% of GDP.
Yet due to the size of the U.S. economy, this translates to 40 percent of all humanitarian aid globally.
And it's not just a one-way street — while hugely benefiting the citizens of the countries in which it is spent, U.S. foreign aid also has positive impacts on American citizens back home, Professor Liam Swiss, a foreign aid expert and head of the department of sociology at Canada's Acadia University, told the Kyiv Independent.
Highlighting USAID programs to fund polio immunization, Swiss said that unless someone steps in to fill the gap, it could harm the global drive to eradicate the disease.
"The only reason we aren't dealing with polio in the U.S. or in Canada, or the U.K. now, is because we've kind of had these successful immunization campaigns to eliminate it," he said.
Another consequence of reducing or cutting foreign aid that Swiss highlights is the potential of it exacerbating one of the most pressing issues for many Trump supporters — immigration.
"If you abandon support… does that actually start to drive further migration from those parts of the world that are then furthering the MAGA-perceived border crisis?" he said.
According to Deborah Fairlamb, the co-founder of Green Flag Ventures, who previously worked on several USAID-funded projects in Ukraine, there is also a public misconception that USAID is used by the U.S. to dictate terms and conditions on countries, a mistruth often exploited by Russia and its supporters.
“It's not the U.S. coming in and unilaterally telling Ukraine what it needs and deciding this. It is always done in conjunction with (the state) and the approval,” she told the Kyiv Independent, adding the Russian propaganda narrative that "USAID is an arm of the CIA" has no basis in reality.
Martin Fornusek
USAID and Ukraine
With the signing of a bilateral agreement between Ukraine and USAID in 1992, the agency started working alongside the Ukrainian government to build a competitive market economy, implement crucial social reforms, provide humanitarian, technical, and financial assistance, and help Ukraine navigate its post-Soviet transition.
“Thus began a 30-year partnership that has endured, animated by the belief that by working together, we can forge a secure and prosperous future for all Ukrainians,” reads the USAID statement on its work in Ukraine.
In over 30 years of working in Ukraine, USAID has played a key role in transforming numerous sectors that often go unnoticed.
Dmytro Boyarchuk, the executive director of the Centre for Social and Economic Research (CASE Ukraine), said that Ukraine would not have been able to implement vital reforms without the support of international donors like USAID.
"Ukraine would not have been able to implement vital reforms without the support of international donors like USAID."
The USAID’s technical assistance program which provides expert advice, support, and resources to help countries implement reforms and achieve development goals, played a big role in transforming Ukraine after the EuroMaidan Revolution that ended the rule of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.
Boyarchuk says that back then, the "reform-minded" people took advantage of it to introduce changes and push solutions through the parliament.
USAID's efforts have also included supporting judicial reforms and anti-corruption initiatives, and promoting transparency and accountability in governance.
It also supported Ukraine’s 2014 decentralization reform, which granted more economic and political freedom to small villages and towns.
While USAID’s impact on freedom of speech in Ukraine can only be traced "indirectly," the organization greatly supported Ukrainian human rights activists and journalists, says Oksana Romaniuk, chief of the Kyiv-based Institute of Mass Information (IMI).
"We, in turn, monitored freedom of speech, we made statements, we held protests, we developed media legislation," Romaniuk told the Kyiv Independent, adding USAID was a "supporting structure" for independent media.
But in 2022, Russia’s full-scale invasion reshaped the focus and priorities of USAID’s work in Ukraine.
"When the (all-out) war started, everything shifted into survival mode. And it was not just USAID, it was the entire country," says Fairlamb.
Before that, USAID may have been helping a community "develop a business plan and figure out how best to use the new tax-free resources," Fairlamb says, but after Feb. 24, 2022, the critical issue became "making sure people in that community had electricity, and that those who had been displaced could find homes."
It is these seemingly small efforts that have played a crucial role in helping Ukraine lessen the devastating impact of the full-scale war.
Small steps matter
Mykolaiv-based entrepreneur Tetiana Viaznikova says the small grant that she received thanks to USAID has helped save lives during the war.
Back in 2021, Viaznikova launched her first aid course "Sample" but Russia’s full-scale war forced her to switch to working at a military administration center in southern Ukraine.
Then last summer, she quit her job and decided to scale the courses up.
A small grant of Hr 410,000 (around $9,700) allowed her to purchase new tourniquets and mannequins, expand her course offerings, and order a marketing strategy.
"It wasn’t just money to get by — it was a boost that helped me scale my business," Viaznikova says. "Thanks to a marketing strategy, I found clients and continue to train people."
Since last fall, over 750 people have undergone her training, and several of them have already saved lives using their new skills.
"For small business owners and those just starting out, even small amounts of money, like mini-grants, provide a foundation that gives you the opportunity to start and scale up," Viaznikova says.
There are thousands of success stories like Viaznikova’s across Ukraine, all made possible by USAID, from training teachers and providing scholarships for researchers, to supporting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and agriculture.
A farmer from war-torn Kharkiv Oblast managed to save his crops after receiving costly fertilizers for free, while Ukrainian internally displaced persons (IDPs) gained access to vital medication and essential goods.
The work of USAID in just one territorial community in Chernihiv Oblast amply demonstrates its impact.
USAID-funded projects have created spaces for young people, organized workshops and training sessions for locals, supplied new equipment for municipal services and hospitals, and much more.
"The stop of USAID’s support means lost opportunities," Andriy Tkach, the secretary of the Sosnytsia village council, told the Kyiv Independent.
What is at stake
While the U.S. has issued a waiver for "life-saving humanitarian assistance," most USAID-funded programs in Ukraine now face at least a three-month pause in funding, and an even more dire situation if it is not renewed after the U.S. State Department review.
Boyarchuk said Ukraine’s agriculture sector — "the key sector today that is holding up the economy, with more than 60% of commodity exports being agricultural products" — is largely dependent on donors’ support.
"And while we praise their (farmers’) resilience, their equipment was damaged, destroyed, or taken — this is all a significant cost, and they have to continue working," he adds.
Many Ukrainian non-profits and media outlets are already appealing for alternative funds and donations, while others have decided to halt certain operations.
Veteran Hub, an NGO that supports Ukrainian soldiers, war veterans, and their families, announced that it had to close its operations in Vinnytsia.
Ukrainian media, especially regional outlets, are under threat as well.
According to Romaniuk, nearly 90% of regional media funding relies on grants, with advertising accounting for only 3-10% of their revenue.
"At the start of the invasion, over 300 regional outlets shut down due to financial strain, Russian attacks, and people fleeing," Romaniuk says, adding: "This may lead to another wave of media shutdowns."
Bogdan Logvynenko, founder of Ukrainer, a popular online magazine that lost most of its funding due to the U.S. aid freeze, says that Trump’s decision is not just about Ukraine "but about a new isolationist policy of the U.S."
"How will the (media) sector survive this? I think it may shrink by half," he says.
Natalia Yermak
