Trump may have just helped Putin cover up war crimes involving children: report

Jennifer Bowers Bahney
March 18, 2025 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands as they meet in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that the U.S. could be inadvertently helping Russian President Vladimir Putin cover up alleged Russian war crimes involving children.

The controversy revolves around a now terminated, U.S.-funded initiative that contained "a sensitive database detailing the mass deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia," The Post reported. The project was headed up by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, but that contract was recently scrapped by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.

When the it abruptly ended, researchers reported losing "access to a trove of information, including satellite imagery and biometric data tracking the identities and locations of as many as 35,000 children from Ukraine."

National security reporter John Hudson wrote that the researchers were no longer able to transmit "evidence to prosecutors pursuing multiple criminal cases, including the International Criminal Court’s landmark indictment of Russian President Vladimir Putin for what it has called the 'unlawful transfer' of children from occupied areas of Ukraine."

Hudson quoted a group of lawmakers led by Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: “We have reason to believe that the data from the repository has been permanently deleted. If true, this would have devastating consequences. This vital resource cannot be lost."

One anonymous researcher told The Post, "The Trump administration, through either its incompetence or its intent, has now cast doubt on the validity of three years and $26 million of taxpayer-funded war crimes evidence."

According to the report, "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said any agreement to stop the fighting must include Russia’s return of missing Ukrainian children and accountability for those responsible for their abduction." The Post reported that the State Department didn't comment on whether the data has been compromised or deleted.

President Donald Trump held a phone call Tuesday with Putin to discuss a pending ceasefire agreement with Ukraine.