Three suspected Russian spies have been refused bail by a court in the U.S. state of Virginia.
The suspects were sent back to jail after two of them admitted that they were Russian citizens living in the U.S. on false names.
Six suspects in one of the most high-profile spy cases involving Russia and the U.S. since the end of the Cold War were earlier refused bail in New York. An 11th suspect is on the run from authorities in Cyprus after skipping bail.
The children of suspects Mikhail Kutzik and Natalia Pereverzeva, who had been living under the names Michael Zottoli and Patricia Mills, will now be sent back to Russia to live with relatives, prosecutors said.
The couple appeared with a third suspect, Mikhail Semenko, in a Virginia court on Friday.
One of the men detained in New York, Juan Lazaro, is reported to have told prosecutors he worked for Russia's foreign intelligence service.
The suspects face up to five years in jail if they are found guilty of conspiracy to act as unlawful agents of a foreign government - a charge less serious than that of espionage.
Moscow said on Tuesday that members of the alleged spy ring were Russians, but denied they had acted against the United States.
MOSCOW, July 3 (RIA Novosti)
