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Russian children’s ombudswoman supports bill banning adoptions to unfriendly countries

Maria Lvova-Belova noted that the bill does not envisage a "total ban of adoptions of Russian children by foreign nationals"

MOSCOW, July 30. /TASS/. Russian children’s rights ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova supports a bill banning adoption of Russian children by citizens of unfriendly countries, according to her report for 2022 that was posted on her website on Sunday.

"It should be admitted that amid the unprecedented anti-Russian campaign unleashed in the West and actively backed by the mass media, Russians living abroad are in a very vulnerable situation," the report says, adding that Russia "may lose real instruments to exercise control over the living conditions of Russian children adopted by citizens of unfriendly countries."

She noted that the bill does not envisage a "total ban of adoptions of Russian children by foreign nationals," since "when the situation changes, countries may be excluded from the list of unfriendly countries and their citizens will again be granted a possibility to adopt Russian children."

"In this environment, draft federal law No.174451-8 on amendments to articles 127 and 146 of the Russian Family Code is seen as meeting the present-day challenges and deserves support," the report emphasizes.

In August 2022, a group of lawmakers of the Russian State Duma, or lower parliament house, submitted a bill banning adoptions of Russian orphaned children and children left without parental care to citizens of unfriendly countries. Duma’s committee on family, women’s and children’s affairs recommended that the bill be passed in the first reading. However, the consideration of the bill was postponed.