Spy Swap 10 x 4 Russia USA Igor Sutyagin Anna Chapman

In Russia, the Kremlin said President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree pardoning four convicted foreign spies:  Alexander Zaporozhsky, Gennady Vasilenko, Sergei Skripal and Igor Sutyagin so that they can be exchanged for the 10 US defendants.

The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that the spy swap exchange being conducted by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service and the CIA was conducted in the context of overall improvement of USA and Russian ties.

Igor Sutyagin is a scientist convicted of passing Russian nuclear secrets to the CIA through the UK.

The 10 Russian agents, including tabloid sensation Anna Chapman [Kushchenko], freed by the United States are part of the biggest spy swap since the Cold War.

Ten Russian Spies accused of spying for Moscow Intelligence

Ten people have been arrested in the USA [ New York, Boston and Alexandria, Virginia ] accused of spying for Moscow and Russia Intelligence. The accused spies are charged with conspiracy to act as unregistered agents for a Foreign government and money laundering. If convicted, all ten could face up to twenty years in prison.

The Justice Department accuses them with carrying out long term, deep cover assignments in the United States, on behalf of the Russian Federation.

US investigators claim some of them lived under false identities and that the secret agents used private wireless networks to send encrypted messages embedded in images online.

Anna Chapman, formerly Anya Kushchenko  ( Анна Чапман ) is in solitary confinement until her indictment hearing on July 17. 

Burgergate and catching ten spies is good PR for the Justice Department and FBI.