Trump decision puts war crimes investigations in Ukraine at risk
Donald Trump, President of the US (photo: Getty Images)
The Trump administration sharply cut funding for investigations into Russian war crimes in Ukraine, putting justice for thousands of victims at risk, according to Reuters.
Scale of the cuts
Reuters tracked more than $283 million in US funding allocated to investigate war crimes in Ukraine since 2022. At least 40% of these programs have been terminated or exhausted after Trump froze foreign aid in January 2025.
A Ukrainian official told Reuters that the cuts have affected approximately half of the American programs aimed at accountability for war crimes and strengthening the rule of law.
What exactly has been affected
Among the consequences of the cuts:
- Truth Hounds, an organization that has documented over 17,000 allegations of war crimes, was forced to lay off staff and suspend its archiving project;
- Dozens of foreign experts who collected evidence on the battlefield can no longer travel to Ukraine;
- The restoration of a destroyed courthouse has been halted – following the liquidation of USAID and the cancellation of a $62 million program to strengthen the Ukrainian justice system;
- Yale University, which has been tracking over 35,000 Ukrainian children abducted to Russia, was denied $8 million in funding and will close in August.
What has been shut down within the US itself
The Trump administration has also:
- Eliminated the State Department unit that had coordinated the global response to mass atrocities since 1997;
- Disbanded the Justice Department group that helped Ukraine investigate war crimes;
- Qithdrawn from an international group that was gathering evidence against Russian leaders;
- Imposed sanctions on officials of the International Criminal Court for attempting to investigate crimes by Israel and US military personnel.
Who is replacing the US?
The EU and Britain have affirmed their commitment to justice for Ukraine. The European Union has allocated €10 million for a special tribunal for Russian leaders and €50 million for the protection of abducted children. Britain added £5 million to support victims of war crimes.
On May 30, the UN placed Russia on its blacklist of countries suspected of sexual violence in conflict zones – the number of such cases in 2025 increased by more than 100% compared to 2024.
