MOSCOW, July 29 (RAPSI) - The Moscow City court will consider on September 11 a lawsuit filed by an American mother Rachael Neustadt living in England who calls on her former husband to return the children, lawyer Marina Zakharina told RAPSI on Monday.

The boys, Daniel and Jonathan, were both born in Switzerland before the family relocated to London in January 2011. Daniel holds a Russian passport and an expired US passport. Jonathan holds German, Russian, and American passports.

Two months following the family's move, in March 2011, the boys' mother Rachael Neustadt initiated the proceedings presently underway against her former husband Ilya Neustadt with an application for a non-molestation order, a court order prohibiting the use of violence and harassment.

The order was sought due to Ms. Neustadt having been a victim of domestic violence. She was then accommodated with the children in a shelter.  Ms. Neustadt had been granted sole residence of the children and that a hearing had been scheduled for January 13, 2013 to determine the progression of contact rights between the boys and Mr. Neustadt.

It had allegedly been agreed that the boys would visit their father in Russia for Christmas, and that they would then return to their mother's care on January 7, 2013. The boys, however, did not return as planned.

Ms. Neustadt has already turned to an international treaty that only recently entered into force in Russia in hopes of compelling the return of her young sons.