The Russian Intel Pair Watches The World Cup In Their Hometown, Disguising As Football Supporters

President Putin welcomed the Russian citizens who returned after being released in a prisoner swap with the West at Vnukovo Airport. (Source: Kremlin)

JAKARTA - Russian spy couple Artyom Dultsev and Anna Dultseva have secretly returned to their country to watch the 2018 Football World Cup match, disguise themselves as supporters of one country and use it to meet relatives.

Artyom, Anna along with her two children are agents of Russian intelligence 'sleeping', agents planted for a long time without carrying out real and activated intelligence activities when needed, who are stationed in Slovenia under the guise of Argentine.

"We've come to Russia several times, but it's not easy to organize, as you can imagine," Artyom Dultsev said in an interview with Razvedchik.

"In the summer of 2018, when Russia hosted the FIFA World Cup. We took advantage of the opportunity and came (to Russia) as foreigners. We attended several matches, including one match in the city of Anna, Nizhny Novgorod, where we watched Argentina play Croatia," he explained.

Nizhny Novgorod was filled with Argentine supporters, so he and his wife sat among the Tango Team supporters during the match, he recalled.

"It's very unusual, I have to say. We are at home but foreign (for everyone present)," he said.

"By the way, Argentina lost the match, which made Sofia (Dultsev's daughter) sad; she even cried a little," he added.

Citing Reuters, the Dultsev family was convicted by a Slovenian court for pretending to be Argentine citizens to spy on European Union and NATO countries.

The couple is suspected of being an "dark immigrant", an undercover agent trained to disguise himself as a foreigner, who spent years living abroad under their pseudonym.

According to Anna Dultseva, the couple also used this opportunity to arrange meetings with their relatives.

"It was in a rural house of my parents; both sides of the family came. Of course, the kids didn't understand anything: we were in the countryside and the people in front of them were their grandparents. They were too young and didn't ask any questions," he explained.

"Still, we decided the trip to Nizhny would be important to them. They will remember it and it will help them adapt when they return," he added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the couple were 'dark migrants' after they were released and returned to Russia.

"Children of 'illegal' intelligence agents who flew yesterday only found out that they were Russian after the plane took off (to Moscow) from Ankara," Peskov told reporters.

"Previously, they didn't know they were Russian and that they had anything to do with our country. And you might see when those kids got off the flight stairs, they didn't speak Russian and Putin greeted them in Spanish. He said Buenos Nochas," Peskov explained.

"The children asked their parents yesterday who met them (in Moscow). They don't even know who Putin is. That's how 'dark migrants work'. They make such sacrifices because of their dedication to their work," he said.

The Dultsev family arrived in Slovenia with Argentine passports in 2017. There they founded IT companies and online galleries. After the start of special operations in Ukraine in 2022, intelligence agents from an unnamed country recommended that the Ljubljana Government pay attention to the family carefully.

The couple were arrested and their two children, male and female, placed in an orphanage. Investigators argue they are secret agents of Russia's foreign intelligence services. The couple pleaded guilty.

On July 31, 2024, a court in Ljubljana sentenced them to one year and seven months in prison on charges of espionage. They have spent about that period in detention.

In early August, Dultsev's family was among eight people released and returned to Russia, part of the largest exchange of East-West prisoners since the end of the Cold War.

President Vladimir Putin, who is also a former KGB officer and former head of the Russian FSB intelligence service, welcomed them at Moscow airport, hugging and taking office.

"Congratulations on your return to the country. I would like to thank you for your loyalty to your oath and duty to the country, who have never forgotten you for a second," he said.

"You will all be given a state award. I will meet you again, we will discuss your future," he added.