TOMILINO, Russia - Two years after Artem Saveliev's American adoptive mother put him alone on a plane back to his homeland, the towheaded 9-year-old shivers and barks "No!" when asked if he ever would go back to the United States.
The boy who instantly became a potent symbol of failed adoption policies now lives in a home in a village of foster families near Moscow.
His treatment ignited outrage in Russia toward the United States, temporarily halted American adoptions of Russian children, sparked investigations in both countries and touched off an emotional debate about whether U.S. couples could trust Russian information on children they were seeking to adopt.
But what about the boy?
On Thursday, Pavel Astakhov, Russia's children's ombudsman, arranged a rare visit by journalists to Artem's village, partly to draw attention to two looming court cases involving Torry Hansen, the American woman who adopted and then ditched the boy.
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His Russian foster mother, meanwhile, says Artem needed months of counseling and speech therapy.
In April 2010, Hansen sent 7-year-old Artem from Tennessee back to Russia on a one-way plane ticket with a note saying he had psychological problems and she didn't want to be his mother any more. No criminal charges were ever filed in the U.S.
His new caregiver, Vera Yegorova, said it took months of sessions with a psychologist and a speech therapist for the boy to start communicating again.
"He is no different now from other children," said Yegorova, 53, who has raised 17 foster children at the village.
