President Vladimir Putin yesterday signed into law a ban on the adoption of Russian children by American families that activists slammed for making orphans pawns in a diplomatic row between Moscow and Washington.

The law – retaliation for a US law punishing Russian officials implicated in the 2009 prison death of the whistle-blowing attorney Sergei Magnitsky – will take effect on January 1, the Kremlin said in a statement.

The United States reacted with disappointment. “We deeply regret Russia’s passage of a law ending inter-country adoptions between the United States and Russia,” State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in a statement, decrying the move as “politically motivated”.

The highly contentious law is seen as the toughest piece of anti-US legislation during Putin’s 13-year rule and has prompted objections not just from activists but even some Cabinet ministers.

Of particular concern are dozens of Russian children who are now in an agonising limbo. Having been prepared for US adoption they are now effectively banned from leaving for their new lives. The Kremlin children’s rights envoy Pavel Astakhov said 52 such children should now go to Russian parents specially selected by regional governors.

Rights activists and the Russian Opposition slammed the law, accusing Putin of making children hostage to a political disagreement.

“Our poor children, orphans, will suffer because they are used as tokens in a political game between two countries,” veteran rights campaigner Lyudmila Alexeyeva told RIA-Novosti.

“That is immoral, it’s cannibalism.”

Pro-Kremlin lawmakers crafted the Bill in a matter of days in response to a US law sanctioning Russian officials implicated in Magnitsky’s death.

At first it was directed against Americans deemed guilty of violating the rights of Russians.

But the Duma later added two tough amendments, one banning US adoptions, the other banning Russian NGOs that have members with US citizenship or who had US financing.

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