how you managed to come home, cover: Society: World: Lenta.ru

Artem and Anna Dultsev, a married couple of illegal intelligence officers, who returned to Russia as part of the exchange, toldthat they came to Russia for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

For this reason, they then pretended to be fans of the Argentina national team. At the same time, they managed to attend a national team match in Anna’s native Nizhny Novgorod and even meet her parents.

Scouts wrote letters to parents

Dultsevs toldthat during their ten years abroad they managed to send no more than three or four letters to their parents in Russia. And visits to the country, as Artem said, “were very difficult to organize, you understand.”

In 2018, they took advantage of the World Cup and came with their children as foreigners. “We attended a couple of matches, including in Anya’s native Nizhny Novgorod, where we watched the Argentina-Croatia game. There were a lot of Argentine fans, and we sat among them. It’s very unusual, I must say: we seem to be at home, but we’re strangers…” admitted Artem. He remembered that his daughter Sofia was even very upset by Argentina’s major defeat (0:3) and cried.

On the same trip, the couple managed to organize a meeting with their relatives. Both families arrived at the dacha of Anna's parents. “The children, of course, didn’t understand anything: that we were at the dacha, that their grandparents were in front of them. They were still too small and didn’t ask questions,” Dultseva said.

The scouts indicated that they viewed the children's trip as an aid to future adaptation upon return.

The scouts said that they now communicate with children in two languages

The Dultsevs also said that since their return to the Russian Federation, they have visited all their relatives, vacationed in Sochi, and visited St. Petersburg. According to them, the adaptation of children who previously did not speak Russian is coming to an end, and they are “very happy in Russia”, having learned that they have a large family. Sofia and Daniil are already going to school, learning Russian with great interest, studying every day according to an accelerated program.

Children have already begun to read books in Russian, although at home their parents still communicate with them in Spanish. “So far it’s all mixed up. Especially if you need to say something quickly – then Spanish, and when there is time for explanations – of course, in Russian,” added Anna.

She also admitted that at home the family still talks about their stay abroad, arrest and prison in Slovenia. “Children continue to ask questions, including about us and our profession. We answer everything honestly and tell them everything openly. And, you know, the children accepted this, accepted that their parents were intelligence officers, and now they are even glad that they are Russian and are proud of it,” Dultseva said.