According to eight sources, and a Ukrainian document, the Trump administration’s freezing of foreign funding is affecting an international effort that aims to hold Russia accountable for alleged crimes committed in Ukraine. This has halted dozens of jobs, and tens of millions of dollars of aid.
Since the February 2022 Russian invasion, Ukraine has opened over 140,000 cases of war crimes. The invasion has resulted in tens and thousands of deaths, devastation of vast areas of the country, and mental and physical scars. Russia has consistently denied that its forces committed war crimes during the conflict.
The Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group for Ukraine, a U.S.-funded international initiative, has provided Ukrainian authorities with expertise and oversight. Kyiv’s Western partners have praised it for investigating alleged crimes even while the war was still raging.
According to a Ukrainian report on U.S. funding, six U.S.-funded projects at the Prosecutor’s General’s Office are at stake. They are valued at $89 million.
Funding for at least five of those projects has already been frozen, according to five sources directly involved, who cited interruptions in payments. The affected worked on issues ranging from the preservation of evidence from the battlefield to anti-corruption initiatives and reform of Ukraine’s prosecution system.
The document revealed that USAID funded two of the projects, while the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement funded three, and the Department of State directly funded one.
The document shows that $47 million of this funding was allocated directly to the accountability for war crimes.
The impact on war crime programs described in the document and by the sources has never been previously reported. Due to the sensitive nature of the subject, nearly all sources requested anonymity.
The programs may not have a direct impact on Ukraine’s frontline efforts in fighting off Russia, but their supporters claim they are the best way to document the reported atrocities committed by soldiers during Europe’s largest conflict since World War Two.
The 90-day foreign aid freeze Trump announced on January 20, when he took office, was not specific enough to target the projects or determine if they were victims of a broader ban.
The White House, State Department, and Ukraine’s Prosecutor have not responded to any requests for comments about the impact or purpose of these cuts.
According to two sources, the impact of the freeze on ACA was that nearly 40 experts who were provided by Georgetown’s International Criminal Justice Initiative (the lead implementing entity), have stopped working.
ACA and Georgetown Press Office did not respond when asked for comment. Two program members declined to comment.
On its website, ACA – which is funded by both the EU and Britain – claims to have provided “decades of expertise” for more than 150 experts who are helping Ukrainian prosecutors.
A source who is involved in the supply of outside legal experts to Ukraine stated: “Some partners do not have enough money to pay their employees.”
A second source confirmed that a PGO advisor was placed on leave, and a project aimed at providing support to victims of sexual violence related to the conflict had been suspended.
Ukrainian non-governmental organizations have also been affected. Two representatives of these groups said their efforts to collect evidence from victims and document damages may be affected, or have already been frozen.
“Our organization…will still exist but we will seek alternative funding sources and will accordingly continue working in this area, just on a limited basis,” said Oleksandr Pavlichenko, a member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union.
After the U.S. budget freeze, the group halted work at its regional offices.
The head of a Ukrainian organization that helps in the collection and training of legal professionals, as well as the training of lawyers to collect evidence of war crimes, said that the group had also been forced to partially cease its operations.
The source, who requested anonymity to speak honestly about a sensitive matter that is still not resolved, said that if new funding was not found within three months, there would be job cuts.
Ukraine’s international allies have been demanding accountability for Russian crimes since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
Yevhen Krapyvin, of the Centre for Policy and Legal Reform, in Kyiv, said that U.S. assistance, especially from USAID, was vital in the early war.
It funded, for example, an 800-page guide for judges who are adjudicating their first war crimes trials. He said that foreign experts were valuable for the knowledge they brought with them from previous wars.
He said that the Ukrainian authorities gained valuable experience thanks to the infrastructure Kyiv’s foreign partners had put in place. He also downplayed the negative impact the funding cuts would have on Ukrainian efforts to investigate and prosecute alleged crimes.
Krapyvin stated, “Right now, the system is more stable and experts are present. Of course, you want more experts, but the system is built.”
A source who was privy to the details of the situation, but spoke under anonymity because the subject is sensitive, stated that a loss of U.S. Leadership in this effort could have a wide range of effects. The source stated that “the perpetrators are emboldened, and we all suffer.”
Sources at Ukrainian advocacy groups with a history of working on war crimes said that people were “in shock” and asked to remain anonymous to discuss sensitive issues.
The freeze also affected the launch of a case management system funded by America, which is part of an effort to modernize Ukraine’s justice system, said Leonid Sapelnikov. He is in charge of digitalization at Ukraine’s State Judicial Administration.
Kyiv’s bid to become a member of the European Union is centered on cleaning up and strengthening its judicial system.
“If (case management system) works, we expect the effectiveness of the judiciary to increase and that it will be easier to hear more cases,” Sapelnikov added, “Ukraine will seek alternative funding sources for the project without providing details.”
