Russians Fear For Funding As US Aid Ousted

After 20 years spending £1.8bn on aid and democratic programmes, this week marks the end of USAID's mission in Russia.

The United States Agency for International Development was forced to close its offices after the Russian government accused it of meddling in politics.

The expulsion follows a government crackdown on pro-democracy groups.

USAID sponsored dozens of NGOs dedicated to helping the vulnerable. Some Russians, like the mother of 14-year-old Kirill Drozdkov, who has spinal muscular atrophy, now fear for future funding.

The lack of a special school in their area saw him spend much of his childhood confined to their seventh floor flat.

"School is very good. I like school very much, because I have friends there, I have lessons there," Kirill tells Sky News.

"And if I didn't have school, it will be very bad."

His mother Valentina added: "When he was little he kept asking me, 'Mum, why am I always on my own? Am I a bad person?.'"

For years she fought local authorities who refused to let her son attend a mainstream school.

But, with the support of a USAID-sponsored NGO, Perspektiva, she was able to apply enough pressure to make the school accessible so he could attend. She says without that help they would have been lost.

USAID has provided a third of their funding and its director Denise Roza said the moment when they and other NGOs were told it would close caused shockwaves.

"We were told to come to the embassy. The room went very quiet. There were hardly any questions because people were shocked. Nobody expected it," Ms Roza told Sky.

"Those people who've been coming to us, getting support from us, they're going to either end up in a home or they're not going to get the support they need.

"They're going to be excluded and, well, who knows? Their future is certainly going to be different."

Their challenge now is to find more funding to continue their mission of inclusion in a society that can be unwelcoming for people with disabilities.

The Russian government has accused USAID of meddling in its affairs and, in a statement, said it did not always stick to its stated goals of development and humanitarian work.

It accused it of attempting to influence political processes through its grants - and USAID has also sponsored the Golos group whose website exposed electoral fraud around last year's parliamentary elections.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has alleged the mass protests against his rule were orchestrated by US-funded NGOs.

Political wrangling matters little to Kirill - for now he has his wish - but there is a creeping fear that, in the future, others like him may not.