CNN
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The kids of two Russian intelligence brokers, who had been among the many detainees launched as a part of a historic prisoner swap, solely found their nationality once they had been being flown to Moscow, the Kremlin mentioned Friday.
Their mother and father, Artem Dultsev and Anna Dultseva, had been amongst 24 prisoners swapped as a part of a posh, multi-country deal that noticed high-profile American detainees and Russian dissidents freed in return.
The pair had been posing as an Argentine couple in Slovenia the place they had been convicted of spying. Their two youngsters flew again with them on Thursday from Turkey.
The boy and woman “discovered that they had been Russian solely when the aircraft took off from Ankara,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov instructed journalists.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greeted them on the tarmac in Spanish as they didn’t converse Russian and didn’t even know who Putin was, in line with Peskov.
“When the kids got here down the aircraft’s steps – they don’t converse Russian – and Putin greeted them in Spanish, he mentioned ‘Buenas noches,’” Peskov mentioned. “They requested their mother and father yesterday who it was that was assembly them, they didn’t even know who Putin was.”
After coming down the aircraft’s stairs, Dultseva, holding her tears, hugged Putin, who was standing on the pink carpet rolled on the tarmac holding bouquets of flowers. Putin kissed Dultseva on the cheek and shoulder, and gave her and her daughter bouquets.
Putin briefly hugged Dultsev too after which the remainder of the launched Russians, earlier than the group walked collectively on the pink carpet away from the aircraft.
Thursday’s huge swap was the results of years of sophisticated behind-the-scenes negotiations involving the US, Russia, Belarus and Germany, in the end main Berlin to comply with Moscow’s key demand – releasing convicted Russian murderer Vadim Krasikov.
A complete of eight folks, together with Krasikov, had been swapped again to Russia in alternate for the discharge of 16 individuals who had been held in Russian detention, together with former US Marine Paul Whelan, Wall Road Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and two different Individuals.
Dultsev and Dultseva pleaded responsible to espionage in a court docket in Ljubljana on Wednesday and had been sentenced to serve time in jail.
Whereas residing undercover in Slovenia, Dultsev posed as an IT businessman named Ludvig Gisch. After pleading responsible, he was sentenced to greater than a yr and a half in jail, which the court docket mentioned was equal to time spent. He was set to be deported to Russia and was banned from getting into Slovenia for 5 years.
Dultseva posed as an artwork seller and gallery proprietor and glided by the identify Maria Rosa Mayer Munos. She was additionally set to be deported.
In the course of the name with journalists, Peskov additionally revealed some extra particulars of prisoner alternate negotiations between Russia and america, saying that they had been primarily performed via the FSB and the CIA.
When requested about different Russians detained overseas, Peskov mentioned that “the destiny of all our Russians who’re held in custody overseas, in america, is a matter of fixed concern for all our related businesses, which is able to proceed the related work.”
