US woman sparks anger by sending adopted boy back to Russia

Artyom Savelyev arrived in Moscow unaccompanied on a United Airlines flight Thursday from Washington, the Kremlin children's rights office said.

The children's office said the boy, whose adoptive name is Justin Hansen, was carrying a letter from his adoptive mother, Torry Hansen of Shelbyville, Tennessee, saying she was returning him due to severe psychological problems.

"This child is mentally unstable. He is violent and has severe psychopathic issues," the letter said, according to Russian officials.

The US ambassador to Russia, John Beyrle, said he was "deeply shocked by the news" and "very angry any family would act so callously toward a child that they had legally adopted."

The boy is now in the hospital in northern Moscow for a check-up, Anna Orlova, spokeswoman for Kremlin's Children Rights Commissioner Pavel Astakhov, said.

Mr Orlova, who visited Savelyev yesterday, said the child reported his mother was "bad," "did not love him," and used to pull his hair.

Savelyev was adopted in late September last year from the town of Partizansk in Russia's Far East. He turned up at the door of the Russian Education and Science Ministry on Thursday accompanied by a Russian man who had been hired by Savelyev's adopted grandmother to pick him up from the airport, according to the ministry.

The chaperone handed over the boy and his documents, and then left, officials said.

The education minister said the ministry had decided to suspended the licence of World Association for Children and Parents – the Washington-based agency that processed Savelyev's adoption – for the duration of the probe.

Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said the ministry would recommend that the US and Russia hammer out an agreement before any new adoptions are allowed.