Spy children sent back to Russia

ALL the children of the 10 Russian spies freed in a dramatic swap with Moscow have been sent to Russia to rejoin their parents, US attorney general Eric Holder said yesterday.

“The children have all been repatriated. We did so consistent with what their parents’ wishes were,” Holder said.

Holder confirmed that some of the children were US citizens as they were born in the US, but said their parents wanted them in Russia.

Some of the children were adults, or almost of age, and they were given the choice of where to go.

“To the extent that they had the ability to make choices, they were old enough to make them, they made their decisions and they’ve gone back with their parents,” he said.

The 10 Russian agents, who were under FBI investigation for a decade, were exchanged for four people accused of spying for Western intelligence agencies by Moscow in a swap on Friday in Vienna.

The Russian spies pleaded guilty on Thursday and were ordered to leave the United States, avoiding the need for a politically embarrassing trial that risked damaging improving relations.

The plane that took the four Russian convicts out of Russia reportedly made a stop at the Brize Norton air base in central England before landing in the US.

Press reports said the 10 agents, some who were married to each other, could have as many as seven children between them.