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Reuters: US funding freeze threatens probes into Russia’s war crimes

The Trump administration’s foreign funding freeze has stalled $89 million in US-backed Ukrainian projects, affecting war crimes probes, anti-corruption efforts, and prosecution reforms.
byYuri Zoria
11/02/2025
2 minute read
funding freeze threatens probes russia's war crimes mass grave bodies ukrainian civilians executed russian troops found after liberation bucha occupation 2022 dattalioncom corpses trump administration's foreign has begun affecting international
A mass grave with bodies of Ukrainian civilians executed by the Russian troops found after the liberation of Bucha from Russian occupation in 2022. Photo: dattalion.com
Reuters: US funding freeze threatens probes into Russia’s war crimes

The US Trump administration’s freeze on foreign funding has begun affecting international efforts to document Russian war crimes in Ukraine, halting $89 million in US-backed projects and forcing dozens of experts to stop work. According to Reuters, citing eight sources and a Ukrainian document, six projects at Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office have been impacted, with funding for at least five already frozen.

Ukraine has opened more than 140,000 war crime cases since Moscow’s February 2022 full-scale invasion. The all-out war has killed tens of thousands and devastated large areas of the country. Russia consistently denies war crimes accusations, even as footage frequently emerges showing its forces committing them.

Reuters reports that nearly 40 experts provided through Georgetown’s International Criminal Justice Initiative have stopped working, sources told Reuters. One source involved in supplying legal experts said:

“Some partners have no more money to pay their staff.”

A project supporting victims of conflict-related sexual violence has been suspended.

The Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union has halted its regional office operations after losing approximately 75% of its annual budget, according to Oleksandr Pavlichenko. Another unnamed Ukrainian organization assisting with war crimes evidence collection has partially ceased operations and may face job cuts within three months, as per Reuters.

UN monitors report “alarming rise” in Russian executions of Ukrainian POWs

According to Leonid Sapelnikov, deputy head of Ukraine’s State Judicial Administration, the freeze has affected the planned launch of an American-funded case management system meant to modernize Ukraine’s judiciary. The modernization is crucial for Ukraine’s European Union membership bid.

Yevhen Krapyvin of the Centre for Policy and Legal Reform in Kyiv told Reuters that while US support was vital earlier in the war, Ukrainian authorities have gained valuable experience through the established infrastructure. However, one source warned that losing US leadership could embolden perpetrators.

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