Russia Vote on Banning U.S. Adoption This Week UPDATED

“Russia’s lower house of parliament, the Duma, could vote this week on a bill that would ban Americans from adopting Russian children, according to various reports by local media outlets.

“I think it will be approved,” Deputy Speaker Sergei Neverov tells RIA Novosti, Russia’s official news agency.

The bill would also prevent American adoption agencies from working in Russia.

“Unfortunately, the U.S. judicial system fails to ensure . . . adequate punishment for crimes against adopted Russian children,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Adoption has become a flashpoint for tension between Russia and the U.S., with Russian officials contending that American parents routinely abuse Russian children in the U.S. on the basis of a handful of high-profile cases. The number of adoptions from Russia fell from a peak of 5,862 in 2004 to 962 in 2011 as the issue became a political football.

Russia lifted a temporary moratorium on U.S. adoption in November 2012 after the two countries reached a bilateral agreement that many hoped would end the international adoption controversy.

But since its passage relations have only gotten worse.

A history of controversy

The adoption ban will be attached to a larger bill named after Dima Yakovlev, a Russia toddler who died in Virginia in 2009 after his adoptive American father left him alone in a parked car for nine hours. The father was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter.

The Yakovlev bill will prevent Americans whose adopted Russian children died under their care from traveling to Russia. Also on the list: Americans associated with the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay.

It could go into effect as soon as January 2013.

“What bothers us most aren’t the [adoption] tragedies, although they are the scariest thing that could happen, but rather authorities’ reaction to them — exoneration. That’s the bad part,” Vladimir Putin told Russian lawmakers.

The Russian legislation is itself a response to a bill passed by Congress last week that criticized Russia over the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a corruption-fighting lawyer. That bill also repealed Cold War-era trade restrictions. Its benefits proved short lived, as Russia soon announced a ban on the import of U.S. beef, hurting American ranchers who had hoped to profit from an expanded Russian market.

Left unmentioned in the Duma’s debate over adoption? The perilous future faced by orphans in Russia. Without the outlet of U.S. adoption, reports The Moscow Times, many Russian orphans – particularly those with mental and physical disabilities – will be left to live out their days “warehoused in Soviet-era institutions located in remote rural areas.”

Russia currently has around 650,000 orphans.

“It’s pure politics and an attempt at blackmail,” Alexander Gezalov, who works with orphans in Russia, tells The Moscow Times. “Children are not rockets or torpedoes [for governments to use against each other].””

Russia will vote on banning U.S. adoption

[Latitude News 12/17/12]

“State Duma deputies promised that the second reading of the bill, which will serve as a response to the Magnitsky Act, signed by U.S. authorities, will have a number of significant additions. In particular, U.S. citizens will no longer be allowed to adopt Russian children.

One of the reasons for this move is the fact that the agreement signed last year in June between the U.S. and Russia on cooperation in the field of adoption is practically not working. It was assumed that the Russian side would control the lives of its young citizens in foster American families. It does not happen still. Russia’s Consular services learn about new tragedy that occurs to an adopted child, when the case already comes to court. Moreover, most sentences brought down against foster parents for abusing orphans are extremely soft and are often limited to suspended punishment.

It just so happens that one can abuse and even kill adoptive Russian children practically without impunity. It is not about the number of killed orphans (currently there are 19 victims) – with such indifference from justice, this situation will repeat over and over again.”

“There are many myths around the foreign adoption of Russian orphans. The main one of them says that foreigners adopt deeply sick children, who had been abandoned by their biological parents. Indeed, to give a child to foreign adopters, five Russian families have to refuse from this child first. How can one collect so many refusals from a 12-month-old baby, for example?

The second myth says that foreigners allegedly adopt “grown up” children, nearly teenagers. According to U.S. authorities, more than 60 percent of adopted children are orphans from one year to two years of age. The group of children from 3 to 4 years of age comes next. Teenagers account for only 4 percent of the total number of adoptions.

Meanwhile, small children of up to two years are in high demand among Russian adopters. In some regions, parents even line up for small children. However, giving such a child to foreigners is a piece of cake. It is enough to “diagnose” the child with as many horrible diseases as possible and mislead potential Russian parents.

Lawyer Anton Zharov, who teaches at the school of adoptive parents of charity fund “Family,” described some of such stories on his blog. A Russian couple wanted to adopt a three-month-old baby. The adoptive parents were horrified to find out the diagnoses – HIV and hepatitis – but they decided to proceed with the adoption because they loved the baby. Blood tests revealed a while later that the baby was healthy. A nurse later told the parents that the baby was supposed to be adopted by foreign parents.

“I am convinced that foreign adoptions cause serious harm to domestic adoptions,” the director of charity fund “Family” Mikhail Pimenov said. If a child with many diagnoses fails to be attached to foreign nationals, the child will have to live with them further on. For an orphan, even a wrong diagnosis is like real sentence that can not be canceled. The kids, whom foreign parents adopt, miraculously “recover” afterwards.

Incidentally, there is a direct relationship between the growth of foreign adoptions and high abandonment in some regions of Russia. In the regions, where local administrations do not do anything to reduce the number of children in orphanages or help troubled families, foreign adoptive parents are always welcome.

The average percentage of foreign adoptions in Russia, according to experts, makes up 31.43 percent (3,400 children were adopted in 2011, whereas Russian parents adopted 7,416). In some regions, the index makes up 79.5 percent (the Khabarovsk region), and 60 percent (the Ural region). In one year, the Khabarovsk region showed an increase of almost 20 percent.

As many as 105,688 Russian children are being raised in organizations today. This accounts for 16 percent of the total number of orphans in the country. Another 20 percent were adopted. The remaining 65 percent are in the custody of their relatives.”

Americans to be banned from adopting Russian children?

[Pravda 12/17/12 by Svetlana Smetanina]

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

Update: Vote 2 of 3 occurred at the DUMA that has an amendment to ban adoptions to the US. It passed by an OVERWHELMING MAJORITY including votes from those in the United Russia party that nominated Putin for president in a 388-15-1 vote according to Fox News or a 400-4-2 vote according to The New York Times. Speculations are rising that with this level of support to ban, that Putin may not be able to block the measure from finally passing the third vote.

Russia gives initial approval to measure banning adoption of Russian children by Americans

[Fox News 12/19/12 by Associated Press]

“The State Department did not immediately respond to the action by the Duma [LOL, none of us were waiting for reaction by DOS. Maybe a year from now they would have a notice published] , but a spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, noted the prior cooperation on the issue of international adoptions. “We have worked hard with Russia to address past problems through our new adoption agreement, which the Duma has approved,” Ms. Nuland said. “Hundreds of Russian orphans have found safe, loving homes in the United States, as have children from around the world.”

Threat to ban adoptions to other countries

“Russian officials have also expressed anger that other Western countries, including Canada and Britain are considering their own version of the Magnitsky legislation. The Duma’s bill would apply the adoption ban to any other country that enacts such a law.”

Bill named after dead Russian Adoptee

“Russian lawmakers named their bill after Dmitri Yakovlev, a toddler who died of heatstroke in a Virginia suburb of Washington in July 2008 after his adoptive father left him in a parked care for nine hours. ”

“The father, Miles Harrison, was acquitted of manslaughter by Judge R. Terrence Ney of Fairfax County Circuit Court who ruled that Mr. Harrison had not shown “callous disregard for human life.”

Russia Votes to Ban All Adoptions by Americans

[The New York Times 12/19/12 by David M. Herszenhorn]

Update 2: The third reading passed overwhelmingly 420-7-1. It is unknown if Putin will sign it, but on Thursday December 20, Russian Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov also stated that he supports the ban.

The adoption ban is one part of a larger measure retaliating against a  recently signed U.S. law that calls for sanctions against Russians deemed to be  human rights violators

Russian parliament approves bill banning US adoptions

[Fox News 12/21/12 by Associated Press]

Foreign adoption should be left in the past: children’s ombudsman
[The Voice of Russia 12/21/12]

Update 3: US Embassy Moscow gives a response on December 21, 2012 and is pasted below. See here

“Statement by Ambassador Michael McFaul On Federal Law No 186614-6

December 21, 2012

We are very concerned by measures in Federal Law № 186614-6 passed by the Russian Duma today that would link the fate of orphaned children to unrelated political issues, as well deprive Russian civil society activists engaged in “political activities” of the ability to work with Americans of their choice.

We welcome Prime Minister Medvedev’s statement last week to encourage new initiatives to promote adoptions by Russian parents, and we appreciate President Putin’s comment yesterday that most American adoptive parents are kind and caring people.  American families, in fact, have welcomed more than 60,000 Russian children into their families over the past 20 years, many of whom are special needs children. We also deeply regret the deaths of 19 Russian adopted children in our country. It was in part out of our commitment to address these tragic deaths that we entered into negotiation with the Russian Federation on an adoptions agreement.

The U.S-Russia Agreement on inter-country adoptions was concluded to improve safeguards that protect adopted Russian children and their American families.  The Agreement was ratified by the Russian Duma on July 10, 2012 and by the Russian Federation Council on July 18, 2012. The Agreement came into effect November 1, only several weeks ago. It is unfortunate that now the Duma has apparently decided to take away these negotiated safeguards and ignore the hard work and negotiations on both sides that went into putting this agreement together.  If Russian officials have concerns about the Agreement’s implementation, we remain ready to work with them to improve it.

If it becomes law, the legislation passed today will needlessly remove the path to families for hundreds of Russian children each year. The welfare of children is simply too important to be linked to others issues in our bilateral relationship.

Additionally, we continue to have concerns about efforts by the Russian government to limit civil society’s contact with Americans.  Decades of partnership between Russians and Americans in a broad array of areas have been beneficial to both our countries and citizens.  We also have repeatedly made clear that our interaction with Russian civil society has always been non-partisan and transparent, and in the spirit of mutual respect and common interest.”

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“The Civil Platform party will allocate $50,000 to each family that adopts a child who may suffer as a result of the “Dima Yakovlev Law,” Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire chairman of the party’s federal political committee, was reported as saying at a news conference on Friday.

He said the decision was made at a meeting of the party’s managing body and covers 46 kids who may suffer as a result of the law banning U.S. citizens from adopting Russian children.

“We are prepared to allocate $50,000 to each family that takes a child,” he said.

He added that a reasonable compromise can still be found, and there is still time to amend the bill.

During a meeting on Friday, the State Duma approved in its third and final reading the “Dima Yakovlev Law” in response to the U.S. Congress’ approval of the Magnitsky Act. The law imposes a ban on the adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens.”

Prokhorov to allot $50,000 for kids affected by anti-US adoption law

[RAPSI 12/21/12]

“Russian ministers are split on the controversial bill banning Americans from adopting Russian children, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said on Tuesday.

Dmitry Peskov had to weigh in on the matter after reports leaked to the press about a memo by Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets criticizing the bill.

The Kremlin will “take into account” Golodets’ arguments, but she did not speak for the entire Cabinet, Peskov said on Kommersant FM radio.

“It would be a mistake to think that there is staunch opposition to the bill within government. On the contrary, there are many arguments in favor of it,” Peskov said.

The Golodets memo, apparently sent last week and cited by Forbes Russia on Sunday, said that the adoption ban violates international conventions on child adoption, Russia’s Family Code, and a US-Russian agreement on adoption that came into force in November.

The adoption bill has also been criticized by Science and Education Minister Dmitry Livanov and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

“Learning about official correspondence from the media is not always pleasant,” Peskov admitted, commenting on the leak.

The Kremlin rights council, an advisory body, also criticized the adoption bill in a statement on Tuesday, saying it violated the Russian Constitution and the country’s international obligations and was ridden with “legislative flaws.”

The adoption bill was called a retaliatory measure against the US Magnitsky Act that came into effect mid-December, imposing extrajudicial sanctions against Russian officials accused of human rights violations.

The lower chamber of Russia’s parliament, the State Duma, fast-tracked the bill amid rumors of pressure from the Kremlin. Two upper chamber committees supported the bill ahead of its review on Wednesday, paving the way for its approval.

Putin defended the bill in heated remarks at a recent press conference, claiming that Russia was defending its national honor from slights by US officials. However, he avoided saying whether or not he would sign it into law.

This anti-adoption legislation caused a flurry of activity in Russian media and the blogosphere, where critics claimed that Russian children – about 60,000 of whom have been adopted by Americans over the past two decades – are being exploited to political ends.

A petition to drop the bill gathered 100,000 signatures within days, but failed to sway the legislators.

The adoption ban, which was widely promoted in state-controlled media, is supported by 53 percent of the Russian populace, compared to 21 percent who oppose it and 23 percent who are undecided, according to a nationwide poll by state-run Public Opinion Foundation released on Tuesday. The poll covered 1,500 respondents and did not specify a margin of error.”

Russian Gov’t Split on Adoption Law – Peskov

[RIA Novosti 12/25/12]

“The White House voiced concerns Tuesday over the Russian bill that would ban adoptions of Russian children by US citizens. In its response to a petition calling for sanctions to be imposed on Russian lawmakers, the White House issued a statement saying that the US “will continue to raise these concerns with the Russian government.”

The petition asked for lawmakers to be punished under the Magnitsky Act, a newly enacted US law that denies visas to Russian officials deemed by Washington to be complicit in human rights abuses, and freezes their American assets.

“Children should have every opportunity to grow up in loving families; their fate should not be linked to unrelated political considerations,” the White House said in its response. It didn’t elaborate if the steps proposed in the petition are to be enforced.

The petition, published on the White House website on Friday, had gathered 54,521 signatures by Tuesday. An additional petition for sanctions to be imposed on President Vladimir Putin, if he signs the bill, collected 12,174 signatures in two days.

The ban on US adoptions was introduced by Russian lawmakers as part of bill responding to the US Magnitsky Act. It has been already passed in three readings by Russia’s lower house of parliament.

It will be reviewed on Wednesday by the upper chamber, the Federation Council. If approved, it would either be vetoed or signed into law by President Vladimir Putin.
The proposed adoption ban caused a flurry of discussion in blogs and the liberal media in Russia, with critics accusing the lawmakers of exploiting children for political gain.”

US “concerned” by Russia’s adoption ban amendment

[RAPSI News 12/25/12]

“THE United Nations said that Russia must not rule out “inter-country adoption” after the country’s parliament passed a bill barring Americans from adopting Russian children.

UN Children’s Fund executive director Anthony Lake said the government must make sure that the “current plight of the many Russian children in institutions receives priority attention.”

“We encourage the government to establish a robust national social protection plan to help strengthen Russian families. Alternatives to the institutionalization of children are essential, including permanent foster care, domestic adoption and inter-country adoption,” Mr Lake said.

Mr Lake released his statement after the Russian upper house of parliament passed a bill banning Americans from adopting Russian children.

The bill, drafted in retaliation for a US law sanctioning Russian officials implicated in the 2009 death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky – will become law if signed by President Vladimir Putin.

The UN agency said child welfare should not be politicized.

“We ask that the government of Russia, in its design and development of all efforts to protect children, let the best interests of children – and only their best interests – determine its actions,” Mr Lake said.”

UN says Russia must not ban adoption

[The Australian 12/27/12]

“Defying a storm of domestic and international criticism, Russia moved toward finalizing a ban on Americans adopting Russian children, as Parliament’s upper house voted unanimously Wednesday [December 26, 2012] in favor of a measure that President Vladimir Putin has indicated he will sign into law.

The bill is widely seen as the Kremlin’s retaliation against an American law that calls for sanctions against Russians deemed to be human rights violators. It comes as Putin takes an increasingly confrontational attitude toward the West, brushing aside concerns about a crackdown on dissent and democratic freedoms.

Dozens of Russian children close to being adopted by American families now will almost certainly be blocked from leaving the country.”

“The U.S. State Department said Wednesday it regretted the Russian parliament’s decision.

“Since 1992, American families have welcomed more than 60,000 Russian children into their homes, providing them with an opportunity to grow up in a family environment,” spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in a statement from Washington. “The bill passed by Russia’s parliament would prevent many children from enjoying this opportunity …

“It is misguided to link the fate of children to unrelated political considerations,” he said.

Seven people with posters protesting the bill were detained outside the Council before Wednesday’s vote. “Children get frozen in the Cold War,” one poster read. Some 60 people rallied in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city.

The bill is part of larger legislation by Putin-allied lawmakers retaliating against a recently signed U.S. law that calls for sanctions against Russians deemed to be human rights violators. Although Putin has not explicitly committed to signing the bill, he strongly defended it in a press conference last week as “a sufficient response” to the new U.S. law.

Originally Russia’s lawmakers cobbled together a more or less a tit-for-tat response to the U.S. law, providing for travel sanctions and the seizure of financial assets in Russia of Americans determined to have violated the rights of Russians.

But it was expanded to include the adoption measure and call for a ban on any organizations that are engaged in political activities if they receive funding from U.S. citizens or are determined to be a threat to Russia’s interests.

Russian children’s rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov told the Interfax news agency that 46 children who were on the verge of being adopted by Americans would stay in Russia if the bill is approved – despite court rulings in some of these cases authorizing the adoptions.

The ombudsman supported the bill, saying that foreign adoptions discourage Russians from adopting children. “A foreigner who has paid for an adoption always gets a priority compared to potential Russian adoptive parents,” Astakhov was quoted as saying. “A great country like Russia cannot sell its children.”

Russian law allows foreigners to adopt only if a Russian family has not expressed interest in a child being considered for adoption.

Some top government officials, including the foreign minister, have spoken flatly against the adoption law, arguing that the measure would be in violation of Russia’s constitution and international obligations.

But Senator Mikhail Margelov, chairman of the Council’s foreign affairs committee, referred to the bill as “a natural and a long overdue response” to the U.S. legislation. “Children must be placed in Russian families, and this is a cornerstone issue for us,” he said.

Margelov said that a bilateral Russian-U.S. agreement binds Russia to give notice of a halt to adoptions 12 months in advance. Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies that the president would consider the bill within the next two weeks.

The measure has become one of the most debated topics in Russia.

By Tuesday, more than 100,000 Russians had signed an online petition urging the Kremlin to scrap the bill.

Over the weekend, dozens of Muscovites placed toys and lit candles in front of the Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament after it approved the bill on Friday, but security guards promptly removed them. Opposition groups said they will rally against the bill on Jan. 13, and several popular artists publicly voiced their concern about the legislation.

While receiving a state award from Putin on Wednesday, film actor Konstantin Khabensky wore a badge saying “Children Are Beyond Politics.” Veteran rock musician Andrey Makarevich called on Putin Monday to stop “killing children.”

During a marathon Putin press conference Thursday, eight of the 60 questions the president answered focused on the bill. Responding angrily, Putin claimed that Americans routinely mistreat children from Russia.

The bill is named in honor of Dima Yakovlev, a Russian toddler who was adopted by Americans and then died in 2008 after his father left him in a car in broiling heat for hours. The father was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter. A Russian television report showed Yakovlev’s blind grandmother who claimed that the U.S. family that adopted her grandson forged her signature on documents allowing them to take the boy outside Russia.

Russian lawmakers argue that by banning adoptions to the U.S. they would be protecting children and encouraging adoptions inside Russia.

In a measure of the virulent anti-U.S. sentiment that has gripped parts of Russian society, a few lawmakers went even further, claiming that some Russian children were adopted by Americans only to be used for organ transplants and become sex toys or cannon fodder for the U.S. Army.

Americans involved in adoption of Russian children find the new legislation upsetting.

Bill Blacquiere, president of New York City-based Bethany Christian Services, one of the largest adoption agencies in the U.S., said he hopes Putin won’t sign the bill.

“It would be very sad for kids to grow up in orphanages,” Blacquiere said. “And would hurt them socially, psychologically and mentally. We all know that caring for children in institutions is just not a very good thing.”

Joyce Sterkel, who runs a Montana ranch for troubled children adopted abroad and has adopted three Russian children herself, said she is concerned for the estimated 700,000 children who live in state-run institutions in Russia.

“I would prefer that the Russians take care of their own children. I would prefer that people in the United States take care of their own children,” Sterkel said Wednesday. “But if a suitable home cannot be found in that country, it seems reasonable that a child should be able to find a home outside.”

Russia Adoption Ban Against U.S. Sent To Putin After Unanimous Endorsement By Federation Council

[Huffington Post 12/26/12 by Nataliya Vasilyeva and Mansur Mirovalev]

DOS issues Alert the Same Day as an Event

Pigs must be flying somewhere. See alert here and pasted below:

“Adoption Alert: Federation Council approves Legislation to Ban Intercountry Adoption by U.S. Families

The Department of State continues to follow developments in Russia related to Federal Law No. 186614-6 and remains actively engaged in discussions with the Russian government regarding concerns that, if signed into law, this legislation will needlessly remove the opportunity for hundreds of Russian orphans to join loving families each year.  The Federation Council (the upper house of the Russian Parliament) approved the legislation in a unanimous vote on December 26 and it will now go to President Vladimir Putin for signature or veto.  The Department of State has not received any notice that adoptions to the United States are suspended, and both the Department of State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services continue to work closely with Russian authorities on intercountry adoption issues as set forth in the U.S.-Russia adoption agreement.

U.S. families currently in the process of adopting a child from Russia are encouraged to reach out to the Department of State at AskCI@state.gov to provide information regarding where they are in the adoption process.  We encourage families to use the subject line “Intercountry adoption in Russia – family update.”  We will seek to provide information directly to families that contact our office through email as it becomes available.  Information regarding the passage of any legislation that affects U.S. citizens who are in the process of adopting a child from Russia will also be posted on adoption.state.gov.”

Update 4: On Thursday December 27, Putin says that he WILL sign the bill. In related news, some PAPs’ and APs’ heads explode.

“Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he will sign a controversial bill banning Americans from adopting Russian children, a defiant move against the U.S. that has angered some Russians who argue it victimizes children to make a political point.

The law would block dozens of Russian children expected to be adopted by American families from leaving the country and cut off one of the main international routes for Russian children to leave often dismal orphanages.

Russia is the single biggest source of adopted children in the U.S., with more than 60,000 Russian children being taken in by Americans over the past two decades.

The bill is retaliation for an American law that calls for sanctions against Russians deemed to be human rights violators and part of an increasingly confrontational stance by the Kremlin against the West.

Putin said U.S. authorities routinely let Americans suspected of violence toward Russian adoptees go unpunished — a clear reference to Dima Yakovlev, a Russian toddler for whom the bill is named. The child was adopted by Americans and then died in 2008 after his father left him in a car in broiling heat for hours. The father was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

Putin indicated that he would endorse the measure.

“I still don’t see any reasons why I should not sign it,” he told a televised meeting. He went on to say that he “intends” to sign it.

UNICEF estimates that there are about 740,000 children without parental custody in Russia, while only 18,000 Russians are now waiting to adopt a child.

The U.S. State Department says it regrets the Russian Parliament’s decision to pass the bill, saying it would prevent many children from growing up in families

Critics of the bill have left dozens of stuffed toys and candles outside the parliament’s lower and upper houses to express solidarity with Russian orphans.

Children rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov on Wednesday said that 46 children who were about to be adopted in the United States would remain in Russia in case the bill comes into effect. On Thursday, he petitioned the president to extend the ban to other countries.

“There is huge money and questionable people involved in the semi-legal schemes of exporting children,” he tweeted.”

Putin: I’ll sign anti-US adoption bill

[KXAN 12/27/12 by NATALIYA VASILYEVA, Associated Press]

Update 5: On Friday December 28, 2012, Putin signs the bill banning US adoptions.It is supposed to go into effect on January 1, 2013.

Russia’s Putin signs anti-U.S. adoption bill

[CNN 12/28/12]

Update 6: US ban on adoption goes into effect on January 1, 2013. There have been dozens of articles discussing the ban. Here are some interesting ones:

(1) Putin the Pitiful [Slate 12/28/12 by William J. Dobson] Some excerpts: “So, with the stroke of a pen, Putin appeared to be rushing to defend venal and most likely criminal Russian officials at the expense of dozens of orphans, not to mention the thousands of other Russian children who would eventually be taken in by American families. The ghastly conditions in Russia’s overburdened orphanages are no secret to Russians. (There are an estimated 120,000 children eligible for adoption. Last year, Americans adopted 1,000 of the roughly 10,000 children who found homes.) No one has ever accused Putin of being a warm, father-like figure. Now he just seems mean.