The youngsters of a Russian spy couple who returned dwelling on Thursday after the most important prisoner swap between the West and Russia for the reason that Chilly Conflict solely discovered their nationality on the flight to Moscow.
Artem Viktorovich Dultsev and Anna Valerevna Dultseva had been posing as an Argentine couple dwelling in Slovenia after they had been jailed there.
Their kids don’t converse a phrase of Russian and didn’t know who President Vladimir Putin was, asking their mother and father who was greeting them upon their arrival, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned.
In whole, 24 individuals jailed in seven totally different international locations had been exchanged on Thursday.
Sixteen had been Western prisoners detained in Russian jails and eight had been Russian prisoners held within the US, Norway, Germany, Poland and Slovenia. Amongst them was Wall Road Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
The Russian household of 4 had been warmly welcomed, with Mrs Dultseva and her daughter receiving flowers and a heat embrace from President Putin.
“Buenas noches,” the president mentioned to the spies’ kids, as he greeted them in Spanish.
As reported by Argentinian media, the couple had been referred to as María Mayer and Ludwig Gisch and arrived in Slovenia sporting their Argentinian passports in 2017.
The husband arrange a start-up IT firm beneath his alias title and the spouse had an internet artwork gallery.
The household used Ljubljana as their base and it was not till 2022 that the couple had been arrested by Slovenian police on espionage costs.
Forward of the big scale prisoner swap, Mr Dultsev and Mrs Dultseva had been sentenced to 19 months in jail every, after pleading responsible to spying costs on Wednesday. However given their arrests in 2022, they had been launched on time served and ordered to go away Slovenia, as reported by the Related Press.
It was not till Thursday, throughout the giant scale Russia-West prisoner swap, that the Kremlin spies, and their kids, had been returned to Russia.
Life for 11-year-old Sofia and 8-year-old Gabriel, who had been born in Argentina, modified thereafter they usually solely learnt they had been Russian when the aircraft set off from Ankara to Vnukovo Airport, the Kremlin mentioned.
“The youngsters of the undercover brokers requested their mother and father yesterday who had greeted them,” Mr Peskov mentioned, including: “They didn’t even know who Putin is.”
The Kremlin spokesman mentioned that’s how undercover brokers (or “illegals”) work, “making such sacrifices for the sake of their work and their dedication to their service”.
Not like “authorized” spies, who’re posted overseas beneath diplomatic or different official cowl, illegals are on their very own – working regular jobs, dwelling in suburbs and working with out the diplomatic immunity loved by different brokers ought to they be caught.
