In the West, they were seen as spies, hackers, smugglers and hired assassins.
In Moscow, they were greeted as heroes and promised state medals.
The eight Russian citizens who returned home on Thursday as part of the largest East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War were convicted on charges including murder and espionage and sent to prisons in Germany, Slovenia, Norway, Poland and the U.S.
But when President Vladimir Putin greeted them on the tarmac of a Moscow airport late on Thursday night, he embraced them on a red carpet flanked by an honor guard and thanked them for their “loyalty to the motherland,” saying Russia never stopped fighting for their release.
The VIP treatment, broadcast on state television and social media channels, reflects a key facet of Putin’s worldview: that Russians acting abroad in what he says are the interests of his state are true patriots who must be brought home no matter the cost. His campaign to secure their freedom, which played out in public and private comments by the Kremlin, could also indicate his willingness to detain more Westerners in Russia for use as bargaining chips in future exchanges.
The Russians who returned home had very different profiles to the dissidents who landed in Germany.
The most prized was Russian hit man and former intelligence officer Vadim Krasikov, who was convicted of murdering a Kremlin foe in a Berlin park.
.Here are the top political news stories for today.
Join in on more popular conversations.
