The U.S. State Department announced on Thursday that it would provide short-term funding to an initiative documenting the abduction of Ukrainian children, following the Trump administration’s decision to suspend the program on January 25.

The initiative, spearheaded by Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab and previously funded by the U.S. government, has played a crucial role in tracking thousands of Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia. According to Ukrainian officials, more than 19,500 children have been removed from Ukraine without parental or guardian consent—an act they classify as a war crime and potential genocide under U.N. conventions.

Russia, however, has defended its actions, claiming the relocations were voluntary and aimed at shielding children from conflict.

A State Department spokesperson clarified that the short-term funding is meant to facilitate the proper transfer of critical child abduction data to relevant authorities. “This is part of the standard close-out procedures for discontinued programs,” the spokesperson stated.

Democratic lawmakers recently urged the Trump administration to reinstate the initiative, warning that its termination could jeopardize access to vital records, including satellite imagery and intelligence on approximately 30,000 displaced Ukrainian children.

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, over the mass deportation of Ukrainian children. Moscow dismissed the charges as “outrageous and unacceptable.”