As peace talks to end the conflict continue, aid workers tell Sky News’ data and forensics team they feel let down by the US.
Oleksiy Kliuiev has had to get used to working under fire. He leads a group of volunteers helping civilians caught in the fighting on Ukraine’s frontline.
Last September, he and his team were nearly hit in a drone strike as they rushed to help residents under bombardment in the Sumy region, close to Ukraine’s northeastern border with Russia.
“By the time we volunteers arrived, there had already been two hits on the hospital by Shahed drones,” Mr Kliuiev, who filmed the strike, tells Sky News.
With the air-raid warning still sounding, he sought shelter in a neighbouring building.
“When we came out, we saw a horrible picture. There were bodies everywhere – wounded or killed. Cars were on fire. Everything was burning.”
A total of 11 people were killed in the attack.
Mr Kliuiev has been working on the frontline of Ukraine’s war since 2022.
In recent days, this border region has become the focal point of Russia’s war effort, as the Kremlin tries to take control and cut off supplies to the Ukrainian military.
Under Russian assault, support from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) had been more essential than ever.
“Sumy is under shelling all the time. It’s under attack from drones, from ballistic missiles, from supersonic missiles,” Mr Kliuiev says.
“It is probably the hardest moment since 2022, because even back in 2022, when we had convoys of occupiers marching through our city, the scale of destruction was not what we are seeing now.”
Mr Kliuiev heads up the Sumy branch of Dobrobat, a volunteer organisation that helps civilians and does urgent reconstruction in areas hit by Russian shelling.
He and his team are aware of the risks. “Ours is a rescue mission,” he says. “So, every time we go to such scenes, we go to help people.”
Last year, Dobrobat received 2 million Ukrainian hryvnia, worth around £38,000, from USAID towards building repair projects. It was supposed to be the first in a series of ongoing payments.
Instead, USAID’s funding was frozen by US President Donald Trump on his first day in office.
Mr Kliuiev sent Sky News a video he took this week of apartment blocks in Sumy, with boarded-up windows that his group had planned to replace using USAID funding.
On Monday, Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said in a statement on X that 83% of contracts funded by USAID would be cancelled.
In a war where equipment like drones and tanks are talked about most, unassuming items are also essential – ladders, construction foam and tools for repairing the damage.
The aid freeze has had an immediate impact on Dobrobat’s work.
“We haven’t been able to install window units as quickly. Residents have been living through a very harsh winter with temperatures of 15C below freezing,” Mr Kliuiev says.
USAID provided billions worldwide
USAID gave $32bn in aid to 165 countries in 2024. Ukraine was by far the top recipient country, receiving $5.4bn.
Mr Kliuiev is one of thousands of Ukrainians working on projects funded by USAID near the frontlines, many of whom have spoken to Sky News.
“Unfortunately, due to the suspension of USAID funding, more than half of our projects were stopped,” says Yuriy Antoshchuk, co-founder of Unity Foundation, a group working to rebuild communities in Kherson.