Moscow, July 13 (Interfax) - Several Russians who were detained in the U.S. on suspicion of espionage and were handed over to Russia last week have expressed the desire to change their names using the witness protection program, a law enforcement source told Interfax.
"The Russians who were suspected of espionage by the U.S. authorities are now in Moscow. Some of them have expressed the desire to change their names under the witness protection program," the source said.
The source said the authorities are now working with the people involved in the "spy scandal."
The people detained in the U.S. "did not engage in direct intelligence activities, but were so-called second level residents." The source told Interfax that the people detained in the U.S. were used to pass coded information, including via photo images.
On July 9, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service and the CIA, in accordance with their national legislations and the principles of constructive partnership, had exchanged ten Russian citizens accused in the U.S. for four people earlier convicted in Russia.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree pardoning Alexander Zaporozhsky, Gennady Vasilenko, Sergei Skripov, and Igor Sutyagin, who were earlier convicted for spying for foreign intelligence services (except for Vasilenko). Russian Presidential Press Secretary Natalya Timakova said those people had admitted their guilt and asked the Russian president for a pardon.
