KIEV, April 8 – RAPSI. The number of children adopted by foreign citizens in Ukraine has not increased since the Dima Yakovlev Law took effect, Ukrainian Ombudsman for Children's Rights Yury Pavlenko said at a news conference on Monday.

During the first quarter of 2013, foreign citizens adopted 167 Ukrainian children, while during the same period last year 201 kids were adopted.

At the same time, the number of children adopted by Ukrainian citizens has increased, Pavlenko said.

He said earlier that Ukrainians adopted three times as many children than foreigners did in 2012 – 2,000 compared to roughly 800.

Ukrainian experts earlier envisaged an increase in the number of foreigners seeking to adopt Ukrainian children after the Dima Yakovlev Law was adopted in Russia.

The controversial law, which banned US citizens from adopting Russian children, was signed by President Vladimir Putin in late 2012. The president also signed a decree on the protection of orphans and the simplification of the adoption procedure.

The Dima Yakovlev Law was named after a two-year-old Russian boy who died of heat stroke after his adoptive US father left him locked in a car for hours on a hot summer day in 2008. His father was later acquitted on charges of involuntary manslaughter, inciting a wave of criticism in Russia.