Russian celebs ask Putin to allow U.S. families complete adoptionsFebruary 7, 2013 - 19:12 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A group of prominent Russian artists appealed to President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, February 7 to allow dozens of U.S. families to complete previously started adoptions of Russian children, despite introduction of a law earlier this year banning Americans from adopting Russian minors, RIA Novosti said. The Kremlin introduced that law, known as the Dima Yakovlev bill, on January 1 in response to Washington’s approval of the so-called Magnitsky Act, which introduced sanctions against Russian officials suspected of human rights abuses. As a result, hundreds of adoptions in various stages of the bureaucratic adoption process were suspended. Many of those U.S. families had already met their would-be children before the ban was introduced. Chulpan Khamatova, a popular Russian actress and charity campaigner, a co-founder of the Gift of Life NGO which helps Russian children, said the children concerned who have got stuck in Russia's outdated orphange system will grow up “and hate their own country,” which prevented them having a family. The appeal was backed by Russian rock musician Andrei Makarevich and Yevgeny Mironov, a prominent actor and art director of the Mosocw-based Theater of Nations. Mironov and Khamatova, a theater and movie star internationally known for her role in the film “Goodbye Lenin,” both backed Putin’s candidacy during his reelection campaign last March in video ads. Russian officials justified the adoption ban by blaming U.S. parents for the deaths of at least 19 adopted Russian children. More than 60,000 Russian children have been adopted by American families in the last 20 years, including 962 last year, according to U.S. State Department figures. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |