6-17-2025 11:27pm

Landsman Leads 20+ Members of Congress in Letter to State Department Urging Restoration of Funding to Track Kidnapped Ukrainian Children

Beth Callahan Editor

WARREN COUNTY, OH -- On March 19, 2025, Congressman Landsman sent a bipartisan letter to Secretary Rubio regarding the abduction of children from Ukraine by Russia, as well as the Trump Administration’s termination of funding for the State Department program – known as the Ukraine Conflict Observatory – that tracks these children. The termination of this funding was part of the broader Trump Administration’s gutting of funding for critical programs across the federal government. As a result of Congressman Landsman’s letter to Secretary Rubio, the State Department agreed on March 26 to temporarily resume funding for the program, but only through June 26.

Since then, Congressman Landsman learned of approximately $8 million in funding that the State Department could be using to fund the Ukraine Conflict Observatory’s work for another year – but the Department has not disbursed that funding. As a result, the Ukraine Conflict Observatory is set to cease operations and the tracking of these children by the end of June, unless the Department acts.

On June 11, Congressman Landsman led 22 members of Congress in sending a letter to Secretary Rubio calling on him to disburse the approximately $8 million in funding to the Conflict Observatory, assure Congress that the work to rescue these stolen children remains a priority for the Administration, and outline a plan to achieve this objective.

“We are aware of approximately $8 million in funding duly appropriated to the State Department’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, which oversees the Ukraine Conflict Observatory. We understand that in late 2024, the State Department transmitted a Congressional Notification to congressional committees notifying them of the Department’s intent to direct this funding for – among other objectives – support of the Ukraine Conflict Observatory’s work to track and document Russian war crimes, including the abduction of these children from Ukraine. . .

“Our understanding, however, is that these funds have not been disbursed. Although we do not believe this to be your intent, we fear that withholding these funds could appear to be a betrayal of the thousands of innocent children stolen from Ukraine.”

The full text of Congressman Landsman’s letter can be found here.