In a statement issued on Saturday, Russian foreign ministry said that the adoption by US families should be suspended until the international adoption agreement signed by the two countries on July 13, 2011 comes into force.
“Against the backdrop of an unending series of crimes in the United States against Russian children, the Russian foreign ministry believes … it expedient to suspend the adoptions procedure for US citizens in the Russian Federation,” the statement said.
According to Russian authorities at least 17 Russian children have died in domestic violence incidents in their American families.
The ministry also condemned a ‘too mild’ prison sentence given to an American woman charged with brutally abusing her adopted Russian daughter. Theresa Mcnulty was sentenced to 23 months in prison with possibility of release within 8 months. The girl was eventually hospitalized after suffering burns to 10 percent of her body.
In 2010, a woman in the US city of Tennessee put her adopted Russian son on a plane back to Moscow alone, saying she could no longer cope with his violent behavior.
The United States has the world’s most adoptive parents and Russia has long been one of its biggest providers. US citizens have adopted nearly 50,000 Russian children since the early 1990s.
PG/PKH
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