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It has been widely reported that the Trump Administration has eliminated funding for Yale University School of Public Health’s project to track the estimated 19,000 Ukrainian children who have been kidnapped and removed to Russia and Belarus. The reports also point to the possibility that the database of accumulated information has been deleted.
As reported on the Yale School’s website: “Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova have been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the forced deportation of Ukraine’s children.” Arrest warrants were issued for both in March 2023 for war crimes involving the forced deportation of the children. The possible loss of data that has been accumulated during Yale’s government-financed effort to track these children who were taken for “russification” could undermine the ability of the Criminal Court to successfully prosecute its case.
If Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio or any other member of the administration took this action to help exonerate Putin, to curry favor during “peace talks” or because of general inattention, then they all belong in prison.
Patrick Walsh
Belfast
