The ten Russian spies freed in a swap deal with the U.S. are not subject to the witness protection program and do not need to change their names, a high-level source in the Russian intelligence services said.
Media reports earlier said that some of the spies had decided to change their names.
Under Friday's spy exchange deal, which took place in Vienna, Russia pardoned and released four prisoners jailed for spying for the United States in exchange for ten people accused by the United States of spying for Russia.
"At the moment, none of the deported Russians have expressed a will to change their names," the source said. "They all understand that there is now no need to do that and that they are not under threat."
"The rumors spread by the media that several of the deported individuals had resorted to the witness protection program is pure fiction," he added.
The spies will take lie detector tests as part of an evaluation of their performances.
"Currently, Foreign Intelligence Service specialists are working with all the Russians that returned from the United States to investigate the circumstances that lead to the arrest," the source said.
The ten spies were arrested by U.S. law enforcement on June 27 on suspicion of being part of an espionage ring spying for Russia. An 11th suspect was detained on June 29 in Cyprus, but reports next day said police on the island were looking for him after he apparently skipped bail.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that a 12th individual, suspected of involvement in the recent spy scandal, had been detained by the U.S. authorities.
The 23-year-old Russian man, whose name has not been revealed, arrived in the United States fall 2009 and has been under surveillance since October 2009.
The paper said no charges had yet been brought against him due to a lack of evidence. It said the man was in federal custody and was due to be deported.
MOSCOW, July 13 (RIA Novosti)
