Children Of Freed Russian Agents Learn True Identities On Way To Moscow, Greeted By Putin In Spanish

The children of deep cover Russian spy intelligence unit agents, who were among the detainees released as part of the biggest East-West prisoner swap since the cold war, only discovered their actual nationality after their flight took off for Moscow, the Kremlin said on Friday.

“Before that, they didn’t know that they were Russian and that they had anything to do with our country,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

The couple Artem Dultsev and Anna Dultseva, were convicted in a court in Slovenia of pretending to be Argentinians in order to spy. They were arrested on espionage charges in 2022 and had vehemently denied these allegations until suddenly changing their narrative on Wednesday. They were released in the prisoner swap and were flown back to Russia with their two children from Turkey.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greeted them on the tarmac in Spanish as they didn’t speak Russian and didn’t even know who Putin was, according to Peskov.

“When the children came down the plane’s steps – they don’t speak Russian – and Putin greeted them in Spanish, he said ‘Buenas noches,’” Peskov said. “They asked their parents yesterday who it was that was meeting them, they didn’t even know who Putin was.”

Upon landing, Dultseva, holding her tears, hugged Putin, who was standing on the red carpet rolled on the tarmac holding bouquets of flowers. Putin kissed Dultseva on the cheek and shoulder, and gave her and her daughter bouquets.

While living undercover in Slovenia, Dultsev posed as an IT businessman named Ludvig Gisch. After pleading guilty, he was sentenced to more than a year and a half in prison, which the court said was equivalent to time spent. He was set to be deported to Russia and was banned from entering Slovenia for five years.

Dultseva posed as an art dealer and gallery owner and went by the name Maria Rosa Mayer Munos. She was also set to be deported.

Peskov said that while the couple were being held in jail they were given only restricted access to their children, and feared they could lose their parental rights.

A total of eight people, including Krasikov, were swapped back to Russia in exchange for the release of 16 people who were held in Russian detention, including former US Marine Paul Whelan, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and two other Americans.

Krasikov was convicted by a German court of killing a former Chechen militant in a Berlin park in 2019. President Vladimir Putin hugged him after he got off a plane in Moscow on Thursday evening.

Putin’s decision to meet them on the tarmac was “a tribute to people who serve their country and who after very difficult trials, and thanks to the hard work of many people, have been able to return to the Motherland,” he said.

When asked about other Russians detained abroad, Peskov said that “the fate of all our Russians who are held in custody abroad, in the United States, is a matter of constant concern for all our relevant agencies, which will continue the relevant work.”

(With inputs from agencies)