6-8-2024 (MOSCOW) In a tale that seems plucked from the pages of a Cold War thriller, two Russian sleeper agents have shared their extraordinary story of revealing their true identities to their Spanish-speaking children following a high-profile prisoner exchange. Artyom Dultsev and Anna Dultseva, who spent years posing as Argentinian expats in Slovenia while working as “illegals” for Russian intelligence, have returned to Moscow with their children, 11-year-old Sofiya and 9-year-old Daniil.
The couple, convicted of espionage in Slovenia in July, were part of a prisoner swap that saw at least four Russian agents return home. In their first interview since the exchange, broadcast on Russia’s state-owned Rossiya television channel, the Dultsevs recounted the emotional moment they disclosed their true heritage to their children.
“We told the children that we are Russian, that they are Russian, that we are the Dultsevs,” Anna Dultseva explained, describing the conversation that took place on the flight from Ankara. Her husband added that their daughter “had emotions, she started crying a little bit,” while their son “reacted more calmly to this but very positively.”
The interview, conducted at a foreign intelligence facility, offered a rare glimpse into the complex world of deep-cover espionage. The Dultsevs, who had lived their entire family life under assumed identities, now face the challenge of reintegrating into Russian society and culture.
Anna Dultseva admitted to struggling with speaking Russian again after years of exclusively using Spanish. “You don’t think in the language (Russian) – you are controlling yourself all the time and when we arrived we realised we couldn’t speak it,” she confessed.
The couple’s dedication to their mission has been praised by Russian officials, with the interview’s voiceover describing them as “high-class specialists” who “give their whole life to serving the motherland and make sacrifices a normal person can’t understand.”
The children, raised as Spanish-speaking Catholics, now face a significant cultural transition. “Now they are about to find out what borscht is,” the interviewer quipped, highlighting the stark contrast between their previous life and their new reality in Russia.
The family’s return to Russian soil on 1 August was marked by an emotional scene, with Russian President Vladimir Putin personally greeting Anna Dultseva, who wept upon seeing the honour guard. “This is the first time I’ve seen you crying,” her daughter Sofiya reportedly remarked.
Both Artyom and Anna expressed profound gratitude towards their homeland and President Putin. “We didn’t doubt for a moment that the country remembered us, that Russia and the (secret) service were behind us,” Artyom Dultsev stated, reflecting on their time in prison.
The couple’s story bears striking similarities to a 2010 case where another pair of Russian agents returned home after raising their sons as Canadians. Such cases underscore the ongoing use of “illegals” – deep-cover agents who assume foreign identities for extended periods – in modern espionage.
As the Dultsev family begins their new life in Russia, with Artyom hailing from Bashkortostan and Anna from Nizhny Novgorod, they face the unique challenge of bridging two vastly different worlds. Anna Dultseva’s vow to continue “serving Russia” suggests that their extraordinary journey in the world of international espionage may be far from over.
