[citation needed] The law is informally named after a Russian orphan adopted by a family from Purcellville, Virginia, who died of heat stroke after being left in a parked car for nine hours.

[12] United States Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul said the law will "link the fate of orphaned children to unrelated political issues.

[14] In July 2008, less than three months after he arrived in the United States, Dima died while he was strapped into his adoptive father's car.

[15] Following trial, Harrison was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter by a Circuit Court judge in Fairfax County, Virginia, in January 2009.

[16] On 28 December 2012, Governor of Pskov Oblast Andrey Turchak suspended two officials pending an investigation into their roles in the adoption of Dima Yakovlev.

[27] Human Rights Watch Europe and Central Asia director Hugh Williamson says the law "could deprive them (Russian orphans) of the loving families they desperately need".

[33] In January 2017, the European Court of Human Rights levied a fine on Russia, ruling that the ban constituted unlawful discrimination against prospective parents based on their nationality.