Russian couple pleads guilty to spying charges and are released from Slovenian prison on time served

A general view of the office building where two alleged Russian spies held their office, in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Ali Zerdin)

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia -

A Russian couple arrested on spying charges in December 2022 pleaded guilty and were sentenced Wednesday in the Slovenian capital to 19 months in prison each and released on time served.

The Ljubljana court also banned the sleeper agents from returning to Slovenia for a period of five years.

The couple was sentenced for espionage and for using fake documents to register their firms.

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The two, who posed as Argentine citizens, settled in Slovenia in 2017. The husband, who used the name Ludwig Gisch, ran a startup IT company. The wife, who had fake documents in the name of Maria Rosa Mayer Muños, had an online art gallery. Their actual names are Artem Viktorovich Dultsev and Anna Valerevna Dultseva, according to media reports.

The couple reportedly used the Slovenian capital as their base to travel to neighbouring NATO and EU member states and relay orders from Moscow and bring cash to other Russian sleeper agents.

They are said to be operatives of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) which recruits spies who pose as ordinary citizens in Western countries leading family lives.

They have two children who attended an international school in Ljubljana. Their trial was not open to the public.

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