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Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told reporters at the residence of the Ukrainian president in Foros on July 24, 2010, that he sang “From Where The Motherland Begins” (“What Motherland Begins With”) with ten Russian spies deported from the U.S. The song, which is said to be unofficial anthem of the KGB, is a famous patriotic Soviet song from the 1968 film “Sword and Shield,” about Soviet spies in Germany.
He said that he had met the spies but he did not specify the date and the place. He also said that aside from singing live music, he also talked to them about their daily living. He did not further indicate other things that they have talked about but he said that the deportees would not be left without employment for he promised that they’ll have good jobs and a bright future back in their country.
The 10 deported Russians are Anna Chapman, Juan Lazaro (Mikhail Vasenkov), Patricia Mills (Natalia Pereverzeva), Vicky Pelaez, Mikhail Semenko, Richard and Cynthia Murphy (Vladimir and Lydia Guryev), Donald Howard Heathfield (Andrey Bezrukov), Tracey Lee Ann Foley (Elena Vavilova), and Michael Zottoli (Mikhail Kutsik). They were arrested by U.S. law enforcement on June 29 on suspicion of being part of an espionage ring whose job was to infiltrate US policymaking circles and some and others were charged of money laundering. It is said to be the biggest scandal since the Cold War. The spies left New York’s Laguardia Airport for Moscow after pleading guilty to conspiracy in a Manhattan courtroom and were immediately sentenced to time served and were ordered not to come back to the U.S.
IMAGE CREDIT: AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel
