The children of a Russian spy couple, who returned home on Thursday following the largest prisoner exchange between the West and Russia since the Cold War, only learned their nationality during the flight to Moscow.
Artem Viktorovich Dultsev and Anna Valerevna Dultseva had been posing as an Argentine couple living in Slovenia when they were arrested there.
According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, their children did not speak any Russian and did not know who President Vladimir Putin was, asking their parents who was greeting them upon their arrival.
In total, 24 prisoners from seven different countries were exchanged on Thursday. Sixteen were Western prisoners held in Russian jails, while eight were Russian prisoners held in the US, Norway, Germany, Poland, and Slovenia. Among them was Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
The Russian family of four was warmly welcomed, with Dultseva and her daughter receiving flowers and a warm hug from President Putin. The President greeted the children in Spanish, saying, “Buenas noches.”
According to Argentine media, the couple, known as María Mayer and Ludwig Gisch, arrived in Slovenia with their Argentine passports in 2017. The husband started an IT company under his known name, and the wife ran an online art gallery.
The family used Ljubljana as their base, and it wasn’t until 2022 that the couple was arrested by Slovenian police on espionage charges. Before the large-scale prisoner exchange, the couple was sentenced to 19 months in prison each after pleading guilty to espionage charges on Wednesday. However, considering their arrest in 2022, they were released in time and ordered to leave Slovenia.
Only on Thursday, during the large-scale Russia-West prisoner exchange, did the Kremlin spies and their children return to Russia. The lives of 11-year-old Sofya and 8-year-old Gabriel changed, and they learned they were Russian only when their plane departed from Ankara to Vnukovo Airport, according to the Kremlin.
“Yesterday, the children of the undercover agents asked their parents who had greeted them,” Peskov said, adding, “They didn’t even know who Putin was.”
The Kremlin spokesperson said this is how secret agents operate, “making such sacrifices for the sake of their work and dedication to their service.”
