President Donald Trump has reversed his decision to cut funding for a program dedicated to tracking down Ukrainian children allegedly abducted by Russia.
According to Ukraine, nearly 20,000 children have been taken by Vladimir Putin’s forces since the invasion began in 2022.
The Yale School of Public Health Humanitarian Research Lab, known for its efforts to locate and rescue these kidnapped children, faced financial cuts earlier this month due to budget reductions by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Following international criticism, the Trump administration has restored the project’s funding for at least six weeks, as reported by The Washington Post.
The Yale-led Conflict Observatory initiative employs open-source information and satellite imagery to track the displaced children.
While exact figures remain uncertain, campaigners claim Russia may be responsible for the largest state-sponsored kidnapping of children in modern history.
Yale researchers have identified over 6,000 children taken to Russia and more than 2,400 relocated to Belarus.
Many of these children have reportedly endured abuse, food deprivation, and forced militaristic education. At least 314 children have allegedly been placed in Russia’s adoption and foster system and granted Russian citizenship, which Ukraine argues is an attempt to erase their Ukrainian identities.
In July 2023, a Russian parliamentarian claimed that 700,000 children had “found refuge” in Russia.
Yale researchers share data with Europol and the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is pursuing war crime charges against Russian officials.
In 2023, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Kremlin’s children’s rights commissioner, for their alleged role in deporting Ukrainian children.
The Yale research group faced severe setbacks after Trump signed an executive order in January, freezing all foreign aid. The move faced backlash from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress and Christian groups.
Greg Landsman, a Democratic Representative from Ohio, criticized the initial decision but welcomed the reversal.
“The termination of this contract never should have happened, but I’m grateful to see the State Department change its mind,” Landsman wrote in a letter to the White House.
He added, “This shows that bipartisan, bicameral pressure got the administration to change course, but this still isn’t good enough.”
The State Department confirmed that, with funding now restored, the Yale researchers will continue sharing data with EU police officials.
Uncertainty remains over what will happen once the provisional funding expires.
