US aid freeze puts at risk Ukraine’s wartime help for frontline evacuees

Pavlohrad (Ukraine), Feb 4: In what used to be the concert hall in this town in eastern Ukraine, cots are arranged on stage. Instead of music, the room is filled with the muffled sobs of local people driven from their homes by fighting in the country’s almost three-year war with Russia.
The Russian army’s recent advances have engulfed towns and villages in the area. The Pavlohrad concert hall was requisitioned as a temporary centre for local civilians fleeing the relentless Russian bombardment.
“It’s good here. There’s food, warmth, and a place to wash,” said 83-year-old Kateryna Odraha, who lived through the Nazi German occupation of her village during World War II.
That refuge may now be in peril.
The shelter costs the equivalent of USD 7,000 a month to run, and 60 per cent of that was being covered by US funds sent to help Ukraine.
President Donald Trump’s decision last week to freeze for 90 days the humanitarian aid that the United States provides to countries overseas was felt in places far from Washington, including here, a few kilometres from the front line in eastern Ukraine.
Trump’s decision immediately halted thousands of US-funded humanitarian, development and security programs. The consequences have rippled across the world.
“This news was abrupt and unexpected,” said Illia Novikov, the coordinator of the Pavlohrad transit center, which is run by the charity organisation Relief Coordination Centre. “At this moment, we have no idea what the future holds.”
The US funding covered fuel for evacuation vehicles, salaries for aid workers, legal and psychological support, and tickets to help evacuees reach safer locations, he said. (AP)