"Told the kids on the plane they were Russian"
They spied as "Illegals" for the Russian intelligence service in Slovenia, were exposed, and returned last week as part of a prisoner exchange to Moscow: The agent couple Dulzew speaks out for the first time on state TV.
After returning to Russia as part of a large-scale prisoner exchange, a Russian agent couple has spoken out publicly for the first time. "When I saw the honor guard from the window of the plane, I had to cry," Anna Dulzewa described in an interview broadcast on Russian state TV on Monday evening, recalling the moment of her return to Russia. Her daughter Sofiya told her, "It's the first time I've seen you cry."
Together with her husband Artiom, Dulzewa lived for five years in Slovenia under false names and with fake passports, posing as Argentine immigrants. In 2022, both were arrested and convicted last week for "espionage and document forgery." Shortly after, the couple was released in a prisoner exchange between Russia and Western states and received a military welcome in Russia last Thursday.
Children lived with foster families
The Dulzews presented themselves in Slovenia as Argentine immigrants. According to their parents, their 11-year-old daughter Sofiya and her 9-year-old brother Daniil only found out on the flight to Russia that their parents were Russian spies and their previous identity was entirely fabricated. "We told the children that we are Russians, that they are Russians, and that we are the Dulzews," said mother Anna Dulzewa, who previously lived in Slovenia under the name Maria Rosa Mayer Munos and reportedly only spoke Spanish with her children.
Sofiya "was emotional, she cried a little," said her father Artiom Dulzew. Son Daniil "reacted more calmly, but very positively," reported Dulzew, whose codename was Ludwig Gisch. After the couple's arrest, the children were placed with foster families in Slovenia. "The most important thing for us is family and family, that is our country," said Dulzew.
The couple was part of the so-called "Illegals," working for the Russian intelligence service. These sleeper agents build a false existence over several years, under whose cover they provide information to the Russian state. The speaker of the report on Russian state TV described these agents as "high-class specialists." They dedicate their entire lives to "serving the motherland" and make "sacrifices that a normal person cannot understand." The now-freed spy Dulzewa said she would "continue to serve Russia."
The case of the Dulzews is reminiscent of an agent couple convicted in Germany, who under the names Heidrun and Andreas Anschlag, among other things, spied on EU and NATO secrets with the help of a Dutch official. Both presented themselves as Austrian-born South Americans and lived undetected in Germany for over two decades. The couple was convicted in 2013 in Stuttgart for "espionage in particularly serious cases" and sentenced to several years in prison. Russia at the time announced that it would "repatriate" the two as soon as possible. The court could not find out much about their true identity at the time. Both were later transferred to Russia, with the woman being transferred shortly after her conviction in 2014.
In their interview on Russian state TV, Anna Dulzewa revealed that their 11-year-old daughter Sofiya and 9-year-old son Daniil were unaware of their parents' true identities as Russian spies, having lived as Argentine immigrants while posing as foster children in Slovenia. Upon their return to Russia, the Dulzews, formerly known as "Illegals" working for the Russian intelligence service, were welcomed as former prisoners, having served time for espionage and document forgery.
