Support for Ukraine Should Fund Democracy and Human Rights Initiatives

Kharkiv – Today, as President Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to announce new military aid for Ukraine, human rights advocates note that supporting Ukraine effectively will have to include backing its civil society.

“If the U.S. government wants to support Ukraine it should immediately reverse its previous cuts and freezes on humanitarian aid and support for Ukraine’s journalists and war crimes investigators,” said Human Rights First’s Brian Dooley from Kharkiv, near the eastern front of the war.

“Civilians on the front line of this war have seen drastic cuts in recent months to their access to medicine, to safe routes away from danger, and to lifesaving, accurate information that counters Russian propaganda,” Dooley says. “Rumors and Kremlin disinformation undermine Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself, and those countering it should have their funding fully restored.”

To speak with Dooley, please contact [email protected].