Artyom, who flew from the U.S. alone, celebrates his eighth birthday

Artyom, sent by his foster mother to fly alone from the U.S., celebrated his eighth birthday in a Moscow hospital ward on April 16. Ombudsman for Children’s Rights Pavel Astakhov came to visit him and brought good news for the boy: he will leave the hospital in a few days and go to a foster family.

The boy arrived in Moscow from Washington on April 8. He had a note with him from Tory-Ann Hansen, a U.S. citizen, in which she said that she had abandoned the child for her own safety. The boy spent just half a year with the American family. He used to live in the Primorye Territory before that, first with his mother and then, after she lost her parental rights, he spent several years in an orphanage.