‘They didn’t even know who Putin was’: Russian spies who posed as Argentines with their children speak out

The massive exchange of Russian and Western prisoners carried out in August 2024 made him known worldwide. the story of Anna Dultseva and Artem Dultsev .

They are two spies Russia who pretended to be Argentinians in Slovenia countries where they arrived in 2017 and where they were arrested in 2022.

The couple pretended to have a life together while raising their children aged 12 and 9, who have never been taught to speak Russian.

Her name was María Rosa Mayer Munos and he introduced himself as Ludwig Gisch. .

To stay in the European country, Dultseva created an online art gallery and Dultsev developed a tech startup .

However, His financial movements were one of the factors that aroused suspicion since the experts in charge of the investigations did not understand how they could continue to generate insufficient profits and face so many losses.

They lived in a three-story house in Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital, where local agents They found large sums of money after his arrest .

After their arrest in 2022, The children were sent to foster care programs .

Yet, two years later They were able to leave Slovenia with their parents and take a plane to Russia .

Upon arrival at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, were received by the president Vladimir Poutine who brought flowers to Dultseva and her daughter.

“Good evening,” said the Kremlin leader. to the two minors.

It was because The youngest ones only know how to speak Spanish .

In fact, government spokesman Dmitry Peskov assured on the day of his arrival that The children “did not even know who Putin was” and “only found out they were Russian when the plane took off” for Moscow. .

One week before August 1st, The couple recounted their experiences working as spies on Slovenian territory.

In conversation with Russian media RT —who supports the interests of the Kremlin— assured that While in prison, they always hoped to be able to return to their country. .

As reported, his children were born in Argentina and were raised as “Spanish-speaking Catholics.”

In the images broadcast by the television channel You can see how the couple walks with the minors in a park in which they also practice activities such as playing football and playing with their toys.

Recalling her arrest in Slovenia, Dultseva said: “They threatened us. They told us that Argentina wanted to take away custody of our children. They said that the children could be assigned to another family, but We felt that the Slovenian security services were doing everything possible to ensure that our children remained in the country and that we could be together. “.

“We believe There was enormous pressure on Slovenia by the special services of other countries,” added the mother.

They explained that the authorities of the prison where they were being held They allowed them to communicate with the children and even help them with their homework. .

Dultsev said that They were constantly visited by a representative of the Kremlin. while they were behind bars.

“At one of the meetings, an officer of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service He conveyed the president’s greetings to us and assured us that Vladimir Putin and the special services were doing everything possible for our release. . It was of course a great support.

Now, one of its goals is for children to discover their culture and communicate in Russian .

Although the adults were born and met in Russia, they said that Currently, they also have problems speaking the language .

“When we returned, we realized that we did not speak Russian. “Absolutely. We don’t even understand people around us who speak our own language,” Dultseva said.

Under this line, Dultsev said: “The most important thing for us is family and it helps us. Family is our country. We don’t doubt for a moment. that he remembered us and that Russia and the special services were behind us.”

When asked what they planned to do next, they replied: They hope to continue their work as agents .

Although it is not yet clear what their specific espionage functions were in Slovenia, the country’s State Secretary Vojko Volk revealed that Experts “have no doubt that they were very, very important” .

However, the former head of Slovenian military intelligence, Marjan Miklavcic, said in an interview with New York Times What There are cases in which undercover agents infiltrate without a defined mission. .

In this way, can be prepared for crisis situations in which their operations are necessary.

In this sense, he stated that The Russian couple may have taken on a more prominent role after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. February 24, 2022.

After the outbreak of war, Russian spies began to be expelled en masse from Europe, The Kremlin “has lost many of its usual sources of information” he stressed.

For this reason, he believes that “sleeper agents were probably activated” like the Russian couple. who pretended to be Argentines during the five years they were on Slovenian territory.

Sources consulted by the aforementioned American media claim that: In their interactions with Dultseva, they did not perceive any accent suggesting any connection with Russia. .