In the picture
Cover of Hugo Alconada's book 'Topos. La historia real de los espías rusos que tomaron Buenos Aires como base de operaciones' (Buenos Aires: Planeta, 2025), digital.
Hugo Alconada Mon, Argentine investigative journalist, explores in 'Topos' the true story of a couple of Russian spies who, posing as an ordinary family, turned Buenos Aires into their base of operations at the service of the Kremlin.
Through interviews and secret documents, the author seeks to reconstruct the trajectory of these spies and to unveil the aspirations that the servants of the SVR, Russia's espionage and intelligence gathering service abroad, had in the Argentine capital. Alconada had already published several pieces of information in the newspaper 'La Nación'; later he was able to delve deeper and discover new aspects of the plot. Details about the couple, settled in Argentina in 2012 and later moved to Slovenia, began to emerge when both were arrested in Ljubljana in 2022. Although the media widely echoed this story when the couple was handed over to Moscow in August 2024, accompanied by their children, of Argentine nationality, not knowing Russian and unaware of the true identity of their parents, Alconada has remained the foremost expert on this episode, as his book demonstrates.
The investigation details how Anna Dultseva and Artem Dultsev, known in Argentina as María Rosa Mayer Muñoz and Ludwig Gisch, built a facade that would later allow them to fulfill their espionage duties in Europe.
Choosing Argentina as the central nucleus for the development of her new identities was undoubtedly a well-calculated decision. The woman had a great interest in approaching people related to the oil and gas sector, especially those linked to fracking. This sample the Russian Federation's focus on energy issues and its development in South America, specifically in Argentina.
A second explanation for the Gisch/Dultsev's choice of Argentina as a bridge between Russia and Europe, where they later moved once their false identity was consolidated, was the purpose of developing contacts in the Triple Border, the area where the borders of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet, where there are smuggling activities, money laundering and the presence of elements of Islamic extremism. As Alconada has stated on some occasions, the Triple Border constitutes a "focus of interest and concern for multiple countries" such as the United States or Israel. One of the illicit activities taking place in the area is the forgery of documents. Alconada concludes that Russia seeks its presence in the area to acquire false documents and identities for its corps of spies around the world.
As for their move to Slovenia, one can assume the interest in a territory historically under Moscow's supervision due to its proximity to Ukraine, its position as a member of the European Union and NATO and headquarters of the Agency for Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) of the EU. The initial goal was always for Artem and Anna to return to the old continent to perform their main task there.
In Ljubljana, Sophie and Daniel Gisch, children of the couple, were instrumentalized by their parents to approach relevant people in the energy field. The author suggests that the father of one of the children's class was the president of ACER. This is an indicator that the mission of the fake Argentines was focused on energy issues, an area of vital importance in the relations between Russia and many Central and Eastern European countries.
This case demonstrates that international borders are porous and that not even the most powerful states are able to properly protect their territory from external agents and enemies. The fact that the couple transited between Europe and America under different identities is a demonstration of this. It also shows that international cooperation and dialogue between states and intelligence agencies is essential to achieve positive results.
Finally, this case reveals the absolute devotion of the spies to the interests of the Kremlin. Both they and their children were instrumentalized as cogs in a larger geopolitical strategy, even becoming bargaining chips in the largest exchange of spies and prisoners since the Cold War. The four members of the Gisch/Dultsev family arrived in Moscow along with six other Russian spies who had been detained in various countries (including Spanish journalist Pablo González Yagüe), exchanged for 16 people imprisoned in Russia and Belarus. They were received by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, at the foot of the stairs of the plane.
Although the story of the life of Russian spies in Argentina seems like something out of an espionage novel, its strength lies in the fact that it is completely real. The moles, like spies, operate hidden, invisible to ordinary citizens, until one day they come to light. Russia's interest in Latin America has also been evidenced by similar cases recently uncovered with Brazil as a field of operations.