Do Svidaniya Russian Spies (You Too Anna Chapman?!)? UPDATE: All 10 Plead Guilty

It looks like the rumored deal to swap the 10 Russian spies captured in the US for a US spy that the Russians had incarcerated for six years is underway.

The advocate, Ernst Chyorny, said Mr. [Igor V.] Sutyagin – who has served 10 years of a 14-year sentence for espionage — had called his father from Vienna, where he was met by a British officer. Family members who met with Mr. Sutyagin this week in Moscow said he had been informed he would be transported through Vienna to Britain, where he would be freed. Mr. Sutyagin’s mother, a chemical engineer in a scientific community outside Moscow, rushed home from work when she heard the news.

“So far I don’t know what happened,” said the mother, Svetlana Y. Sutyagina. “I am in a state of suspense.”

The reported exchange was not confirmed by Russian or American officials on Thursday, though anticipation had built throughout the day.

The scientist’s lawyer, Anna Stavitskaya, said Mr. Sutyagin had verbally agreed to an exchange during a meeting with Russian officials who he believed were from Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, or S.V.R., and that Americans had also been present at the meeting.

Her comments followed reports from Washington on Wednesday that just days after the F.B.I.’s sensational dismantling of a Russian spy ring, the American and Russian authorities were negotiating an exchange of some or all of the 10 espionage suspects for prisoners held in Russia, including Mr. Sutyagin.

The deal may involve guilty pleas from the 10 Russian spies, including the honey pot Anna Chapman. MSNBC is reporting that this is going to end up being an 11 for 11 swap.

Relatives of Sutyagin, a nuclear researcher serving a 14-year sentence for spying for the United States, said he had told them he was going to be one of 11 convicted spies in Russia who would be freed in exchange for 11 people charged by the United States with being Russian agents.

Speculation swirled around the possible swap even as Russian and U.S. officials refused to directly comment on any possible exchange.

UPDATE:
The various Russian spies are being moved to New York for what appears to be final disposition in the case - entering guilty pleas and sentencing. Those spies arrested in Virginia and Boston are being transferred to New York, joining Chapman and the others.

Federal judge Kimba Wood had signed an order yesterday requiring El Diario columnist Vicky Pelaez, Juan Lazaro's wife and fellow codefendant, remain detained until the judge can hear an appeal by the prosecutors over the $250,000 bail package approved last week (the other defendants were denied bail and considered flight risks after an 11th alleged spy jumped bail in Cyprus). It's not clear whether how the pending spy swap will handle Pelaez's situation.

UPDATE:
Prosecutors have announced that all 10 alleged Russian spies will plead guilty to charges that they were unregistered agents in the US. That includes the hyperventilating Vicky Pelaez and her husband Juan Lazaro. However, that doesn't mean that all of them want to return to Russia - and that includes the NJ couple that had two kids (a further complication).

The criminal penalty for that charge is up to 5 years in prison.

UPDATE:
We now know the true identity of four of the 10 Russian spies.

In entering their guilty pleas, five of the 10 revealed their real Russian names publicly for the first time. The couple known as Richard and Cynthia Murphy gave their names to the court as Vladimir and Lydia Guryev, and the couple who called themselves Donald Howard Heathfield and Tracey Lee Ann Foley said their real names were Andrey Bezrukov and Elena Vavilova. The defendant known as Juan Lazaro said he was Mikhail Anatonoljevich Vasenkov.

The interesting thing about this case is how quickly the feds got guilty pleas and how quickly the defendants admitted to their guilt. That would seemingly indicate that the case against them was quite strong, which makes one wonder just how much more intel could be gleaned from further inquiry. At least one Russian expert thinks that the catch and turnover was too quick to do a thorough debriefing of the spies to get as much intel as possible about tactics and methods.

Russian Spy Case Updates; Chapman's Dad A Russian Diplomat; Expect Denial of Bail; Admission By Juan Lazaro

A group of alleged Russian spies are to appear in court today to request bail. Don't expect the judge to authorize bail, not when one of the suspects, who was caught in Cyprus and released on bail, escaped without a trace.

Christopher Robert Metsos, 54, was nabbed Tuesday by Cypriot police as he prepared to board a flight to Budapest with a Canadian passport, which was seized.

For some reason, he was granted $25,000 bail and promptly vanished. He was last seen Tuesday night at the hotel where he had paid up front for two weeks.

Metsos' lawyers said they couldn't find him and Cypriot police said he didn't check in as required Wednesday night.

Cyprus, a Mediterranean island close to Europe, Asia and Africa, is famously infested with spies, arms dealers and other shady characters.

Escape is easy: Frequent ferries run from the Turkish northern part of the divided island to Turkey, Syria or Lebanon.

It's called a flight risk, and these people are a flight risk. Therefore, bail is not sufficient.

It also turns out that Anna Chapman's father was a Russian diplomat.

The father of the alleged Russian spy Anna Chapman works as a senior diplomat in Russia's ministry of foreign affairs, Russian media reported today, a revelation that is likely to further strain ties between Moscow and Washington.

Friends said that Chapman's father, Vasily Kushchenko, worked in Russia's embassy in Kenya from the late 1990s, and may even have been the ambassador there. It is more likely, however, that he occupied a more junior post, and then possibly served a further stint abroad before returning to Moscow.

According to Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, Kushchenko continues to work at Russia's foreign ministry, known by its Russian initials as MID. Today a foreign ministry spokesman refused to confirm or deny the report. "We can't answer this. There may be official commentary later," the spokesman said.

Neighbors are still stunned over the revelations:



UPDATE:
No word on whether bail has been set in the case, but here's a copy of the complaint:

Sealed Complaint: U.S. Investigates Alleged Russian Spy Ring

UPDATE:
"Juan Lazaro" one of the people arrested, and who happened to be married to another person implicated in the plot, Vicky Pelaez (who worked for Spanish language daily El Diario in New York City), has admitted to be working for the Russian Intel Service.

"Juan Lazaro", one of the suspects in an alleged Russian spy ring, has admitted that he worked for Russia's intelligence service, according to a bail letter provided by the United States Attorney's office in the Southern District of New York.

The document states Lazaro made a "lengthy post-arrest statement on June 27th," after he waived his Miranda rights, in which he allegedly told federal agents that he was not born in Uruguay, that "Juan Lazaro" is not his real name, that his house in Yonkers had been "paid for by the 'Service' and although he loved his son, he would not violate his loyalty to the 'Service' even for his son."

The document also says "Lazaro," who is married to co-defendant Vicky Pelaez, told agents she delivered letters to the "Service" on his behalf, and that he refused to provide his real name to prosecutors.

UPDATE:
Pelaez is the only one to receive bail today. She is out on $250,000 bail and confined to house arrest. Her husband's bail hearing was postponed. Richard and Cynthia Murphy of Montclair were denied bail.