The Trump administration has terminated a U.S.-funded initiative that documents alleged Russian war crimes, including a sensitive database detailing the mass deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, according to U.S. officials familiar with the directive and documents obtained by The Washington Post.
The move has barred the transmission of evidence to prosecutors pursuing multiple criminal cases, including the International Criminal Court’s
landmark indictment of Russian President Vladimir Putin for what it has called the “unlawful transfer” of children from occupied areas of Ukraine, U.S. officials said.
Researchers and experts involved in the initiative, spearheaded by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, were informed last month that the State Department had quietly terminated their contract — one of thousands eliminated at the behest of Trump appointee Peter Marocco and the Department of Government Efficiency, the budget slashing arm of tech billionaire Elon Musk.
At that time, the researchers lost access to a trove of information, including satellite imagery and biometric data tracking the identities and locations of as many as 35,000 children from Ukraine.
Most alarming to U.S. lawmakers briefed on the matter is the suspected deletion of the research lab’s database amid the scramble to comply with the administration’s termination notice — an action likely to set back efforts to find the missing children and hold to account those responsible for their abduction.
“We have reason to believe that the data from the repository has been permanently deleted,” a group of lawmakers led by Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) warned in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “If true, this would have devastating consequences.”
