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Russia surprised to see no Russian adoptees in US report

“Frequent violations of the rights of Russian children in the US trigger an acute reaction of the Russian public opinion which we cannot ignore,” foreign ministry envoy for...

MOSCOW, December 17 (Itar-Tass) —— The Russian foreign ministry said on Saturday it was surprised to see no adoptions of Russian children in the latest report of the U.S. Department of State which exposed 41 cases of unsuccessful adoptions in the country.

“The absence of a single case related to Russian children causes bewilderment. The report contains no references to inhuman treatment of Russian adoptees,” said foreign ministry envoy for human rights Konstantin Dolgov.

“The U.S. side is well aware of a big number of such cases and the sad statistic continues to grow. Only in the period under review there were cases of abuse of sisters Leschinski in Colorado and Daniil Bukharov in Alaska,” he said.

Dolgov also recalled an extremely mild sentence to the Cravers for killing Vanya Skorobogatov, the acquittal of Dyxtra who killed Ilia Kargintsev, and inadequate position of U.S. justice in the case of Grismore accused of raping adopted Ksenia Antonova, and other cases. He recalled that Russia insists on depriving the Cravers of parental rights to adopted Darya, the sister of Vanya Skorobogatov. “The unwillingness of U.S. lawyers to appeal against the sentences to the Cravers and Dyxtra cannot but cause surprise,” he said.

Dolgov added the situation with Zharkov, who left for medical treatment in the United States in 2008 and is living in the Eckman family in South Carolina, has not been settled. The boy has not been adopted while his visa has expired. “We are working to have his status legalized in the United States for the benefit of the child,” Dolgov said.

“If the U.S. side does not take adequate measures for proper legal protection of Russian minors in the United States it will considerably damage constructive bilateral cooperation in the humanitarian and human rights sphere. Such a situation will contradict the Russia-US agreement concluded in July on cooperation in international adoptions,” he said.

“Frequent violations of the rights of Russian children in the United States trigger an acute reaction of the Russian public opinion which we cannot ignore,” Dolgov said.

“At the same time we continue to believe the mentioned agreement after ratification by the Russian Federal Assembly will play a positive role in settling the existing problems. We shall continue targeted efforts also on a high level to ensure lawful rights and interests of Russian children adopted by American and other foreign parents and we view the guideline as a priority of our diplomatic activity,” he said.