The Trump administration dismantled USAID, one of Ukraine’s biggest sources of non-military support, and the retreat reached far beyond an aid agency’s offices. Cutting that machinery meant pulling support from services Ukrainians rely on while Russia continues its war.
The Scale of USAID’s Role in Ukraine
USAID funded repairs to Ukraine’s power grid and purchases of equipment. It supported payments to pensioners, teachers and doctors through the World Bank, alongside agricultural programmes, demining, reforms, independent media and civil society groups.
The decision to dismantle the agency therefore removed a broad layer of civilian resilience, not just a single aid stream. That support was embedded in everyday Ukrainian life under wartime conditions.
Tracking War Crimes and Stolen Children
The State Department ended funding for Yale’s Conflict Observatory, which tracked Ukrainian children deported to Russia. The US also withdrew from the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine in The Hague, which was gathering evidence for a future case against Russia’s leadership.
Washington scaled back support for Ukrainian prosecutors and the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group, created with the EU and Britain to assist war-crimes investigations. Under Attorney General Pam Bondi, the Justice Department disbanded KleptoCapture, its task force targeting Russian oligarch assets. The US also withdrew from the international REPO group, which traced assets held by sanctioned Russians.
Media, Migration and the Information Front
The administration tried to dismantle the US Agency for Global Media. Voice of America’s Ukrainian service was cut, while funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty came under threat and had to be fought for in court.
The Uniting for Ukraine programme, which gave Ukrainians fleeing the war a route to humanitarian parole in the US, was suspended.
Cutting that machinery meant pulling support from services Ukrainians rely on while Russia continues its war.
What a Democratic Congress Can and Cannot Do
A Democratic Congress now creates a chance to press for some of these programmes to restart, particularly humanitarian support. It leaves USAID closed, investigations halted and White House decisions in place.
The distinction matters. Repairing the damage will require funding, oversight and sustained political pressure, not merely a new congressional majority.