A Ukrainian charity working with war veterans and their families has announced it has suspended its operations due to its reliance on USAID for funding. They're not alone. Across the country, businesses and nonprofit groups are struggling to cope as their financial lifeline is being severed.

'I am now doing everything to save the team,' Natalia Parkhitko, acting director of the Dostupno charity organization, told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service. 'The news was a shock.'

Job Losses

U.S. President Donald Trump curtailed USAID work when he ordered a 90-day spending freeze on January 24. On February 3, employees were locked out of its offices in Washington and staff are reportedly being pulled from overseas deployments.

Contractors have been laid off or furloughed, prompting thousands of people to join protests in Washington.

USAID is the primary U.S. government agency responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. It operates in more than 100 countries, distributing billions of dollars in foreign aid annually, and employs about 10,000 people around the globe.

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The Trump administration has criticized USAID programs as inefficient and misaligned with U.S. interests, arguing that some of the agency's functions could be handled by the State Department. Critics also contend that certain social and cultural programs funded by USAID do not align with its core mission.

Dostupno has worked for years on accessibility issues for people with disabilities, a group that has massively grown since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Its activities include helping wounded soldiers return to civilian life by helping to provide psychological support, prosthetics, and disability benefits.

Parkhitko said the charity, which employs eight people, was now seeking alternative funding and was also hoping to generate extra funds via a social enterprise that conducts audits of architectural accessibility for businesses.

'We will not even allow the thought that Dostupno will close all projects and will not work. Despite the suspension of funding, we will continue our activities,' she vowed. At present, Dostupno is unable to pay staff salaries.

Helping Ukrainian Farmers

Since 2022, USAID has provided Ukraine with billions of dollars in humanitarian aid, development assistance, and direct budget support. Ukraine's crucial agriculture sector has been a key beneficiary. USAID said that, since 2022, it helped a third of Ukrainian farmers and provided them with seeds, fertilizer, and financing.

USAID has also funded health-care projects in Ukraine. (file photo)

One of the recipients was the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council, an NGO that supports farmers and advocates for agricultural reforms. Its head, Andriy Dykun, told RFE/RL that USAID support is crucial for small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises in formerly occupied and frontline areas to resume operations or store their harvests.

'For example, grain storage bags, dryers, fertilizers, seeds. With USAID's support, land reform was actively implemented, and now we are jointly working on the development of irrigation reform, supporting farmers who establish water user associations,' he said.

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'Grants, consulting services, legal support -- this is all significant assistance for Ukrainian farmers,' Dykun added.

The situation is also impacting the Ukrainian government, with budgets affected at the ministries of Energy, Health, and Education, as well as in local governments and other state agencies.

Ukrainian lawmaker Inna Sovsun said that in September last year alone $325 million was provided to shore up the energy sector, which is coming under constant Russian bombardment.

'We are not commenting at this time while we study all the details. Perhaps USAID can provide you with information on this issue,' the Ukrainian Energy Ministry's press department wrote in response to a question from RFE/RL.

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USAID's Ukrainian office did not comment when asked which state programs will be suspended.

'The assistance of USAID fundamentally changed the rules. It affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, set new standards for the sluggish state machine,' said Vladyslav Sodel, a photographer who documented USAID's work for eight years.

He said what struck him was the scale and variety of projects funded by the agency.

'From a bed with a mattress in a shelter for a refugee...to multibillion dollar injections into the stability of our energy networks.'

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Republished with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Washington DC 20036