PSKOV, February 20 (RAPSI) – Alan and Laura Shatto have received the Pskov Regional Court's decision to revoke the adoption of Russian orphan Kirill Kuzmin, whose older brother Maxim died while under the adoptive parents' care last year, RIA Novosti reported Thursday citing the court's spokesperson Yulia Pron.

On December 23, the Pskov Regional Court revoked the adoption by Kirill's adoptive American parents. The ruling took effect on January 30, but the defendants can appeal the decision.

Kirill's brother Maxim died at the age of 3 while playing in the backyard of his Texas (U.S.) home on January 21, 2013.

The Shatto family adopted Maxim Kuzmin and his biological half-brother Kirill Kuzmin from the same orphanage in western Russia. Since the boy's death, his brother has remained with their adoptive parents.

The suit was filed by the Pskov Region Social Security Department after a criminal case was opened to investigate the death of Maxim and alleged violations by social agencies during the adoption of the Kuzmin brothers.

Children's Rights Commissioner Pavel Astakhov announced the death of the boy on February 18, 2013. He tweeted that the child had been given powerful "psychotropic substances," and that he was badly beaten before he died in a hospital on January 21, 2013.

On March 1, 2013, Texas authorities announced that the boy's death was not criminal, based on the autopsy results. The four doctors who reviewed the results ruled the death accidental.

After that, the Pskov Regional Social Security Department filed a lawsuit against the Shattos to revoke the adoption of Maxim's two-year-old brother, Kirill.