President Vladimir Putin secretlyawarded the Order of Courage to 2 married sleeper representatives who returned to Russia as part of a landmark detainee exchange with the West, according to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Services (SVR) Spy magazine.Artyom Dultsev and Anna Dultseva got a heros welcome, consisting of by SVR chief Sergei Naryshkin and Putin himself when they stepped on Russian soil with their 2 Spanish-speaking children on Aug.
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They were among 8 Russians held in Western nations who wereswapped for 16 journalists, dissidents and other political prisoners kept in Russia.The Dultsevs invested years posing as Argentine expats in Slovenia while functioning as illegals till they were arrested in December 2022 and sentenced for espionage in July 2024.
The December problem of the SVRs Spy magazine reported that Putin granted Artyom Dultsev and Anna Dultseva the Order of Courage, however did not say when he released the decree.Investigative news outlet Agentstvo, which initially identified the interview with the Dultsevs, stated it was unable to discover Putins decree granting the couple in any of the openly readily available databases.The Dultsevs bio in the Spy magazine notes that they were used to serve in Russias intelligence service in 2009.
They were deployed abroad under unique conditions in 2012 after three years of unique training.In an interview, Anna Dultseva said they were due to release in 2010, however the assignment was postponed after the United States busted a Russian spy ring of sleeper agents.Artyom Dultsev told the magazine in an interview that their arrest was a failure, but its something that takes place sometimes.