The Dulcev Couple: Russian Espionage Between Argentina and Slovenia

Recruited by Russian intelligence, they lived in Buenos Aires under false identities, moved to Ljubljana, and returned to Russia after the 2024 prisoner exchange.

In our last two articles, we referred to the espionage activities once sponsored by the USSR and continued by Russia.
We recalled the case of África de las Heras, alias María Luisa, who, disguised as a dressmaker, managed to infiltrate Uruguayan society and direct KGB operations in South America for twenty years!
And we jumped ahead more than sixty years to focus on the present.
The Dulcev couple operated for several years in Argentina before later settling in Slovenia.
Their life in Ljubljana, where they ran an art gallery and an IT business, appeared completely normal.
Of course, it was only an appearance behind which they concealed their true intentions.
Who could have suspected that behind that peaceful cosmetic image were spies working for Russian intelligence? But the Slovenians are always alert. Particularly since the invasion of Ukraine, tensions with Russia have continued to rise.
As a member of NATO and in compliance with its resolutions, Slovenia joined the condemnation of Russia and the resulting sanctions.
The Russians responded by declaring it an “unfriendly country.”
In the SVR magazine that published the interview with the Dulcevs, whose contents incredibly leaked to the press, those decorated by Putin added more than a few interesting details.
Recruited in 2009 by the Russian services, they were trained for three years. In 2012, they settled in Buenos Aires.
There, the Russian man presented himself as being of Namibian origin, the son of an Austrian father and an Argentine mother.
The SVR’s choice to use the story of Namibian origins was based on the fact that records in Namibia contain enough gaps to make it difficult for an identity investigation to produce concrete results.
Even more so when the date of birth was set in 1984.
At a time when Namibia remained under South African administration and the country was in the midst of the confrontation between the SWAPO guerrillas and South African forces.
In Europe, where that information is digitized, identity substitution is far more complex.
His wife, in turn, identified herself as María Rosa Mayer Muñoz, a Mexican born in Greece.
As can be seen, Russian intelligence constructed a puzzle of nationalities.
The couple had two children in Argentina.
Of the entire family, they were the only ones who had a genuine nationality, although they had false names.
Arrested and imprisoned in Slovenia, they managed to leave prison in the August 1, 2024 exchange, which involved twenty-four people.
Among them were journalists, opposition figures, intelligence agents, several people convicted of espionage and, for the first time, activists and human rights defenders.
The Russians released American Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich; former Marine Paul Whelan; Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza; and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.
They were exchanged for Colonel Vadim Krasikov of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), considered the Russians’ top priority for recovery.
Krasikov had been sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany for murdering in Berlin a man who had fought against the Russians alongside Chechen forces.
The German justice system concluded that the attack had been planned by Russia and stated so in its ruling.
The Russians also secured the release in the exchange of other agents such as journalist Pavel Rubtsov, detained in Poland, and Mikhail Mikushin, imprisoned in Norway, as well as other agents in Estonia and the United States.
All of them were received at the Moscow airport by a Putin with open arms.

Russian covert espionage
False identities and cover stories
Prisoner exchange

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