Instead of vodka and caviar, the ten Russian “illegal” spies, recently exchanged with Moscow in a historic swap, have met with a rather cold reception.

According to the Moskovsky Komsomolets daily (A Moscow newspaper citing an intelligence source), after arriving at the Russian capital, the spy ring were delivered directly to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki or SVR) for a debrief and lie detector tests to evaluate their performance.

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Eric O’Neill discusses the children of the Russian Spy Case

The spy scandal that erupted less than two weeks ago with the arrest of ten Russian spies ended in record time. Their hastily arranged departure is reminiscent of the relatives of Usama Bin Laden being flown out of the United States after 9/11.

Following guilty pleas, the United States agreed to exchange the ten Russians for four prisoners held in Russia who had been convicted of working for Western intelligence services.

A government official, speaking anonymously before the agreement was announced, said that that swap would not be a fair one.