MOSCOW, April 15 (RIA Novosti) – US investigators attempted to obscure a probe into the death of Maxim Kuzmin, a three-year-old Russian orphan who died in Texas following his adoption by an American family in 2012, a spokesman for the Russian Investigative Committee told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.
According to Vladimir Markin, US investigators "tried not so much to hinder the Russian side from determining the circumstances of the incident … as to mix up the investigation, voicing one ridiculous theory after another."
The US investigators refused to help their Russian counterparts without providing a legitimate reason, Markin said, adding that it would be hard to call the work of US investigators objective.
“This situation isn’t unique as our foreign colleagues see no need in familiarizing us with materials in most cases. Unfortunately, as of today, the issue of the effectiveness of such cooperation remains open in spite of multiple international interrogations on different levels,” the spokesman said.
The Russian Investigative Committee is currently working on 14 criminal cases related to the adoption of Russian children by foreign foster families, Markin said, adding that five of the cases were opened this year.
Maxim, who was adopted and brought into the US along with his brother Kirill in 2012, died while playing in the backyard of his Texas home. Local investigators said the boy’s death – from a ruptured artery in his abdomen – was accidental, and a grand jury declined to indict either of the parents. An autopsy report showed that the boy had bruises on his body in various stages of healing at the time of his death.
Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s special representative for human rights, cast doubt on the findings of the investigation into the child's death.
