MOSCOW, October 1 (RAPSI) - President Vladimir Putin relieved Anna Kuznetsova of the post of Russia's Child Rights Commissioner as she had been elected as a State Duma lawmaker, according to the document published on the official website of legal information.

The Institution of Children's Rights Ombudsman was created in accordance with the presidential decree of September 1, 2009. The first Russian Child Rights Commissioner was Alexey Gorban. In 2009, lawyer Pavel Astakhov was assigned to the post. In September 2016, Anna Kuznetsova took up the post.

In December 2018,Putin signed a bill extending the powers of children’s rights commissioners in Russia into law. Under the document, children’s commissioners would be appointed by the President of Russia for 5 years. The law also grants them a power to challenge officials’ actions or inactions in courts to protect minors as useful and timely.