Russian Couple Sentenced for Espionage in Slovenia

A Russian couple, Artem Viktorovich Dultsev and Anna Valerevna Dultseva, were sentenced to 19 months in prison in Slovenia for espionage and using fake documents, but were released on time served and banned from returning for five years. The couple, who posed as Argentine citizens with the names Ludwig Gisch and Maria Rosa Mayer Muños, used Slovenia as a base to conduct spying activities across NATO and EU states. They were arrested in late 2022 and operated under deep cover, with the husband running an IT startup and the wife managing an online art gallery. Their children attended an international school in Ljubljana. There are speculations that the couple might be involved in a future prisoner exchange between Russia and Western countries. Their trial was not open to the public.