Conflict Observatory

The Conflict Observatory was developed by the United States Department of State's Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations at the outset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine^[2] and was officially announced by State Department press secretary Ned Price on May 17, 2022.^[3][4] In 2023, the observatory’s efforts expanded to include the civil war in Sudan.

The Conflict Observatory is not a repository of “breaking news.” Instead, it follows strict guidelines and protocols to ensure documentation is accurate and accessible to all audiences. The consortium brings together subject matter experts in human rights, humanitarian law, communication, and open source and geospatial data analytics. None of the data the Observatory uses and disseminates is classified.^[5]

In March 2025, Yale University reported that the Trump administration had cut all funding to the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab via the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization led by Elon Musk. The lab is a subset of the Conflict Observatory working to establish the whereabouts of Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russian forces and deported into the Russian adoption system.^[6] The deportation of children is a war crime, and the International Criminal Court has formally accused Russia of employing the practice in Ukraine, indicting senior officials.^[7]

The Conflict Observatory's website was taken offline following the defunding by DOGE.^[7]

The Ukraine Conflict Observatory has been documenting and analyzing Russia-perpetrated war crimes and other alleged atrocities in Ukraine. These crimes include the destruction of critical infrastructure, forced deportations, forced passportization, extrajudicial killings, and destruction of cultural heritage sites.

The Sudan Conflict Observatory has been monitoring the ongoing civil war in Sudan by documenting the destruction of critical infrastructure, disruption to humanitarian aid, and alleged crimes against civilians. Since Conflict Observatory now defunct, some of its investigations are still accessible via Sudan Human Rights Hub website.

Records of reports were maintained on the Conflict Observatory website (ConflictObservatory.org) and publication is announced via Instagram and X. While these executive briefs are made available to the public, the full data sets are closed source, though certain organizations and international investigators may access the full contents of the database.^[5]