Vladimir Putin left dozens of orphans in the lurch yesterday by signing a law banning Americans from adopting Russian children.
As a result, 46 kids whose adoptions were being processed must stay in Russia, a Kremlin spokesman said.
The ban — enacted in retaliation for the Magnitsky Act, a new US law targeting Russian human-rights violators — sparked outrage.
“Our poor children, orphans, will suffer because they are used as tokens in a political game,” said rights advocate Lyudmila Alexeyeva. “That is immoral.”
“The king is Herod,” tweeted writer Oleg Shargunov.
The State Department said the US “deeply regrets” the “politically motivated” law, which goes into effect Tuesday. The law also outlaws some nongovernmental groups that get US funding and imposes a visa ban and an asset freeze on Americans accused of violating Russians’ rights abroad.