Russian spies: children face trauma, psychologists warn

Fate of families remains uncertain as children are forced to choose between their homes and their parents
Waldo Mariscal, Juan Lazaro
Waldo Mariscal (l) and his half-brother Juan Lazaro Jr, the sons of Russian spy Vicky Pelaez, leave their home in Yonkers, New York. Photograph: Seth Wenig/AP

The fate of the Russian spies' families remains uncertain, with some older children opting to remain in the US but younger ones likely to rejoin their families.

Eight of the 10 spies flown to Vienna had children. Most are in limbo as the US child protection agency, the FBI and the immigration service sort out the final details. The US state department insisted that all the children were free to leave the US. "This is really fundamentally a matter between the parents and the children," an official said.

In the long term, US psychologists predicted that some children could face feelings of betrayal, identity crisis and dislocation as they struggle to come to terms with the abrupt change in lifestyle.

Robbie Woliver, author of a book on child development, wrote on the Psychology Today website that all children at some point ask the question 'Who am I?' and that the answer would be more difficult for the spies' children. "They grew up as all-American kids for the most part with moms making Statue of Liberty cupcakes, picnics with hamburgers and hotdogs, PTA events … the painted shutters, the refrigerator magnets and the hydrangeas have now crumbled for these kids like a house of cards," Wolliver wrote.

Government agencies refused to say whether the younger children had left the US, saying they were bound by law to keep such information confidential.

According to lawyers, Juan Lazaro Jr, the son of Vicky Pelaez and fellow agent Mikhail Vasemkov, was given the option of staying in the US or going to Russia and chose to remain. John Rodriguez, a lawyer for Pelaez, said: "He's 17 years of age. He'll probably stay with his brother." The brother, Waldo Mariscal, a 38-year-old architect, is from Pelaez's earlier marriage.

Lazaro Jr, a gifted pianist, has spent part of his life in Peru, and his mother, a US citizen originally from Peru, said she intends to set up home there.

Both brothers were in court for the hearing in New York yesterday in which Pelaez and Vasemkov, alias Juan Lazaro, admitted spying. Their New York home is to be confiscated by the state.

According to court papers, Mikhail Kutsik, alias Michael Zottoli, and Natalia Pereverzeva, known as Patricia Mills, who lived in Arlington, Virginia, have asked friends to get in touch with relatives to make arrangements for their children, who are one and three. The indication was the children would be flown to Russia.

More complicated in terms of adjustment could be the children of Vladimir and Lydia Guryev, alias Richard and Cynthia Murphy, who were brought up in New Jersey. The daughters, seven-year-old Lisa and Katie, 11, attended state school and have only known US suburban life.

Andrey Bezrukov and Elena Vavilova, alias Donald Heathfield and Tracey Foley, who lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, had a 20-year-old son at George Washington University and a 16-year-old at a private school. They have already lived in France.

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