Two brothers were on Wednesday referred to the criminal court to be tried for the murders of two Russian women in November in a village in the district of Limassol.

The pair of Syrian nationals, aged 32 and 44, are expected to be formally charges on February 11 in connection with the murders of Alraeesi Khaiat, 43, and Mariia Gazibagandova, 33, who were found buried in the garden of a holiday house in Kato Amiantos that one of the suspects had been working on.

The two men will remain in custody until their hearing in February.

A third man arrested during the investigation was released on Tuesday without being charged.

The two women arrived in Cyprus as tourists, one at the beginning of summer, the other around two months ago. They were reported missing from their Larnaca residence since November 17.

The suspect had spent time with them at the house in Kato Amiantos, where he had been doing construction. The owner of the home did not know this.

Police launched a murder investigation on December 4, after the 32-year-old, who had been in custody, admitted to killing and burying them in the yard, which police had previously searched.

The suspect told police he dug a hole in the garden about 1.5 metres deep 10 metres from the house.

After burying the women there, he covered the area with gravel to hide the fact that the earth had been disturbed.

Rainfall covered his tracks on the ground, which is why police did not initially discover the burial site.

The suspect said he went hunting and when he got back at about 7am he heard the two women mocking him and then he shot them.

The 44-year-old had been questioned earlier in the investigation and was arrested December 14 after his telecommunications data placed him in the Kato Amiantos area during the dates the crime was perpetrated.

Police told the court they had questioned the man on November 30, but he had claimed ignorance of the events.

Faced with the evidence, the man admitted to being at the scene on the night of November 16. He claimed, however, that he had never entered the house where his brother had allegedly spent the night with the two women.