The Trump administration has ended U.S. government funding for an initiative that tracked Russian war crimes, including the forced deportation of Ukrainian children, the Washington Post (WP) reported on March 18.
The program, led by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab under the State Department’s Conflict Observatory, collected biometric data and satellite imagery to document Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children. Researchers lost access to the database last month after officials terminated the contract, cutting off critical evidence from investigators pursuing war crimes cases, the WP reported.
Lawmakers are alarmed that the research lab’s database may have been permanently deleted, jeopardizing efforts to locate the children and hold those responsible accountable.
A group of U.S. representatives, including Democrat Greg Landsman, warned Secretary of State Marco Rubio that losing the data would have "devastating consequences," according to a copy of the letter obtained by the WP.
The database, which contained detailed dossiers on thousands of Ukrainian children taken to Russia, was being transferred to Europol to support international prosecutions. However, the funding cut blocked that process.
Abbey Fenbert
The Observatory’s research has been a key source of evidence for international investigations. It contributed to multiple reports on Russia’s actions in Ukraine and played a role in securing six International Criminal Court (ICC) indictments, including the 2023 arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova.
The ICC accused them of overseeing the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children, an act Ukraine considers an attempt to erase their national identity.
Despite Moscow’s claims that it relocates children from combat zones for their safety, Ukraine and human rights groups argue that Russia is systematically adopting and indoctrinating them.
Putin even signed a decree in 2022, making it easier for Russian families to adopt Ukrainian children. The Observatory’s reports identified at least 35,000 children affected by these forced transfers, with researchers insisting that their findings are crucial for Ukraine’s efforts to bring them home.
The Ukrainian government has managed to return 1,240 children so far, according to the Ukrainian national database "Children of War."
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