Russian President Vladimir Putin onFriday signed a law banning the adoption of the country's children by US citizens, the Itar Tass news agency reported, according to dpa. The law is a retaliatory measure against a US law which seeks to sanction Russian officials suspected of involvement in human rights violations and which is named after a whistle-blowing Russian lawyer who died in jail in 2009. Putin's signature came on the same day that a Moscow court acquitted the only official charged in connection with the death of the 37-year-old lawyer, Sergey Magnitsky. Citing the presidential press service, the Itar Tass report said that Putin also signed a decree on measures to protect orphans and abandoned children. The United States denounced the move as politically motivated and said it would reduce the possibilities for adoption of children now in institutions, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said. "
