Americans Gershkovich and Whelan back in US after historic prisoner swap with Russia | CNN

The children of Russian intelligence agents, who were among the detainees released as part of a historic prisoner swap between Russia, the US and other Western nations, only discovered their Russian identity on the plane en route to Moscow, the Kremlin said Friday. 

The boy and girl, whose parents are Russian spies Artem Dultsev and Anna Dultseva who were living undercover in Slovenia, “found out that they were Russian only when the plane took off from Ankara,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists during a daily call. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin greeted them on the tarmac in Spanish as they didn’t speak Russian and didn’t even know who Putin was, Peskov said. 

After coming down the plane’s stairs, Doltseva, holding her tears, hugged Putin, who was standing on the red 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, and then the rest of the released Russians, before the group walked together on the red carpet away from the plane. 

Some background: Dultsev and Dultseva, who posed as Argentinians, pleaded guilty to espionage in a court in Ljubljana on Wednesday and were sentenced to serve time in prison. 

While living undercover in Slovenia, Dultsev posed as an IT businessman named Ludvig Gish. After pleading guilty, he was sentenced to more than a year and a half in prison, which the court said was equivalent to time spent. He was set to be deported to Russia and was banned from entering Slovenia for five years.

Dultseva posed as an art dealer and gallery owner and went by the name Maria Rosa Mayer Munos. She was also set to be deported. 

During the call with journalists, Peskov also revealed some additional details of prisoner exchange negotiations between Russia and the United States, saying that they were primarily conducted through the FSB and the CIA.

Asked about other Russians detained abroad, Peskov said that “the fate of all our Russians who are held in custody abroad, in the United States, is a matter of constant concern for all our relevant agencies, which will continue the relevant work.”