Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has backed a mother’s bid to be reunited with her missing sons.

In a letter, he said the Rachael Neustadt’s two children were facing a tragic situation.

Three months ago, Ms Neustadt won a landmark court ruling to bring Daniel, seven, and Jonathan, five, back to the UK, after they were taken to Moscow by their father Ilya in 2012.

But she said the boys had now disappeared — “I suspect that they’re still in Russia or been taken to Israel.”

Rabbi Mirvis wrote that the boys “must be returned to their mother”.

He said: “In this situation the only proper place for the children to live is with their mother.”