State Dept says data on Ukrainian orphans is 'secure' despite concerns it was lost following Trump funding cut

The data initiative, spearheaded by the Yale School of Public Health Humanitarian Research Lab, was part of a larger program known as the Yale Conflict Observatory, which served to track various war crimes, including those committed by Russia during its war with Ukraine. Yale confirmed last week that the funding for the work it had been doing on the war in Ukraine was "discontinued." 

Pages on the Conflict Observatory were removed from the State Department's website as well.

Bruce refused to comment any further about the federal government's continued role, or lack thereof, with regard to protecting the data.

"I would just remind you that there is a variety of dynamics that are occurring when it comes to the world knowing about those missing children," she said to reporters. 

About 20,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted by Russia and hidden in its adoption system, Democratic lawmakers warned in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. They raised concerns that funding cuts to the Yale program could lead to permanent data loss.

The letter also noted that since the war began, more than 700,000 people from Ukraine have been relocated to Russia.

During Monday's briefing, Bruce emphasized the president's concern over the missing children and said their return from Russia to Ukraine has been part of ongoing U.S.-Russia discussions aimed at ending the war.

The State Department declined to provide any comment on this story, and referred all questions about the data to MITRE. In response to Fox News Digital's questions about the data's location, a MITRE spokesperson said that the research into Ukrainian children "is currently maintained by a former partner on [the Conflict Observatory] contract." However, the spokesperson would not indicate which specific partner it was referring to, as there are several. 

The spokesperson added that, as a result of the Trump administration's move to cut funding to the Yale program, the research being done there to track abducted Ukrainian children has been halted.