St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko called on Tuesday for a ban on child adoptions by foreigners in the city, Interfax reported.
“I see how many cruel incidents have happened. We don’t need any foreign adoptions in St. Petersburg,” she said at a city government meeting.
“Enough of this fashionable fad. Enough of torturing children. I think children must be picked by our families, who can take better care of them,” Matviyenko said, adding that the city government was increasing support for families with adopted children.
St. Petersburg families get 6,155 rubles ($199) a month per child, Rosbalt.ru reported.
Perhaps the best-known foreigner to have adopted children in St. Petersburg is former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who adopted a girl in 2004 and a boy in 2006.