State Dept denies deleting data on halted p

* State Dept denies deleting data on halted p State Department confirms program tracking abducted Ukrainian children halted * Department denies deleting data, says it wasn't holding it * Yale research report links Putin to adoption program for deported Ukrainian children By Daphne Psaledakis and Humeyra Pamuk WASHINGTON, - The U.S. State Department on Wednesday denied that data collected in a government-funded program that helps track thousands of abducted Ukrainian children had been deleted, but acknowledged that the effort had been terminated as part of Washington's sweeping freeze on almost all foreign aid. The Trump administration paused the program on January 25, the unnamed State Department spokesperson said in an email, as the Republican president ordered a broad review to prevent what he says is wasteful spending of U.S. taxpayer dollars with causes that do not align with U.S. interests. "Following a review, the U.S. Department of State decided to terminate the foreign assistance award supporting the Ukraine Conflict Observatory," a different spokesperson said. In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children's rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for the alleged war crime of deportation of Ukrainian children.