Other prisoners released by Biden on President Putin's orders included the children of SVR operatives who weren't even aware they were Russian until they received the joyous news upon arrival in Moscow.
Peskov also revealed that the two children of Artyom and Anna Dultsev, who had served as undercover spies in the Russian “illegals program” and were imprisoned in Slovenia, had only learned while on the plane to Moscow that they were Russian and “had anything to do” with Russia.
The children apparently believed they were Argentine, since their parents had posed in Slovenia as a couple from Argentina.
Mr. Krasikov and the other returnees received a hero’s welcome from Mr. Putin, who made a rare trip to the airport to greet them.
The Russian-made government plane pulled up in front of the V.I.P. terminal reserved for foreign dignitaries. Holding their rifles, officers of the honor guard flanked the red-painted pathway that leads toward the terminal building.
Mr. Putin stood next to the plane’s ramp, its steps covered with a red carpet, as his aides held flowers for him to give to Ms. Dultseva and her daughter.
In the past years, Mr. Putin hasn’t traveled to the airport even to greet foreign leaders, including President Xi Jinping of China last year, and his presence underscored how he viewed the swap as a personal triumph and a show of support for loyalists who carried out his wishes.
Inside the terminal, Mr. Putin thanked those prisoners “who are directly related to military service” for their loyalty to their “oath, duty and the Motherland.” He promised to decorate them with state awards and discuss their future in Russia.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/02/worl ... a-fsb.html