Russian President Vladimir Putin has awarded the Order of Courage to Anna and Artem Dultsev, convicted in Slovenia on espionage charges and returned to Russia as part of an exchange.
This follows from an article in the December issue of the magazine Razvedchik, which is published on the website of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. The “Agency” drew attention to the publication.
The magazine contains an interview with the Dultsevs, as well as a biographical note about them. It states that they were awarded the Order of Courage.
The reference states that in 2009, the Dultsevs “received an offer” to serve in intelligence, after which they underwent special training for three years. Since 2012, they have been abroad.
Anna and Artem Dultsev, convicted in Slovenia on charges of espionage, returned to Russia on August 1 as part of a large prisoner exchange between Russia and Western countries. They were accompanied by their two children, a nine-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter. In Slovenia, the Dultsevs lived with Argentine documents under the cover of a legend. The country’s intelligence services believe that the couple had been “sleeper agents” for a long time and became active only in 2022, after European countries began to expel Russians suspected of espionage en masse.