Ten accused Russian spies plead guilty, likely to be deported.

NEW YORK, July 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Ten accused Russian spies pleaded
guilty to a conspiracy charge on Thursday thus opening a deportation
possibility in what is expected to be the largest Russia-U.S. swap since
the Cold War.
The defendants each announced their pleas to conspiracy to act as an
unregistered agent of a foreign country. They all affirmed U.S. District
Judge Kimba Wood's question of whether they would plead guilty.
U.S. media said the defendants were expected to be deported to Russia
within hours in exchange for the release of convicted Russian spies.
The Associated Press said Igor Sutyagin, a Russian arms control
analyst serving a 14-year sentence for spying for the United States was
reportedly plucked from a Moscow prison and flown to Vienna on Thursday.
The Russian foreign ministry refused comment.


.Ten Russian spies to be deported immediately.

NEW YORK, July 9 (Itar-Tass) -- A judge in New York has ordered ten
defendants who admitted acting as Russian spies deported from the United
States immediately and U.S. media said they will be swapped for four spies
released by Russia.
Federal Judge Kimba Wood announced the resolution of the case Thursday
after the accused pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge.
The Associated Press said the defendants were likely to be deported
from the United States within hours in a historic spy swap, the largest
between the U.S. and Russia since the Cold War.
It quoted a Justice Department letter as saying the Russian government
will release four imprisoned people accused of betraying Russia to the
West.
In particular, Igor Sutyagin, a Russian arms control analyst serving a
14-year sentence for spying for the United States was reportedly plucked
from a Moscow prison and flown to Vienna on Thursday, the news agency said.


.Medvedev pardons four spies imprisoned in Russia.

MOSCOW, July 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed
a decree to pardon four Russian citizens imprisoned for spying thus
providing legal grounds for a historic 10 to 4 spy swap between the United
States and Russia since the Cold War.
Medvedev's spokeswoman Natalia Timakova said on Friday the president
pardoned former Russian Foreign Intelligence Service colonel Alexander
Zaporozhsky, arms control analyst Igor Sutyagin, former colonel in the
Russian military intelligence Sergei Skripal, and Gennady Vasilenko.
Timakova said they all requested a pardon.
Sutyagin has served 11 out of 14 years in prison, Zaporozhsky - close
to 9 years, and Skripal - 5.5 years.
On Thursday a judge in New York ordered ten defendants who admitted
acting as Russian spies deported from the United States immediately and
U.S. media said they will be swapped for four spies released by Russia.
A high-ranking Kremlin official said on Friday the swap was due to
"reset" in bilateral relations which nobody can "shatter".
"It became possible due to the new spirit of Russian-U.S. relations, a
high level of mutual understanding and trust between the presidents of the
two countries which nobody can shatter," the official said.

.Kremlin says Russian spies freed due to "reset".

MOSCOW, July 9 (Itar-Tass) -- A high-ranking Kremlin official said on
Friday the upcoming return of ten accused Russian spies from the United
States back home was due to "reset" in bilateral relations which nobody
can "shatter".
"We succeeded to organize the return of the Russian citizens, detained
in or delivered to the United States, quickly, technologically and without
complications," the official told reporters on conditions of anonymity.
"It became possible due to the new spirit of Russian-U.S. relations, a
high level of mutual understanding and trust between the presidents of the
two countries which nobody can shatter," the official said.
On Thursday a judge in New York ordered ten defendants who admitted
acting as Russian spies deported from the United States immediately and
U.S. media said they will be swapped for four spies released by Russia.
Federal Judge Kimba Wood announced the resolution of the case Thursday
after the accused pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge.
The Associated Press said the defendants were likely to be deported
from the United States within hours in a historic spy swap, the largest
between the U.S. and Russia since the Cold War.
It quoted a Justice Department letter as saying the Russian government
will release four imprisoned people accused of betraying Russia to the
West.
In particular, Igor Sutyagin, a Russian arms control analyst serving a
14-year sentence for spying for the United States was reportedly plucked
from a Moscow prison and flown to Vienna on Thursday, the news agency said.
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