Russian spy Anna Chapman makes rare public appearance at cosmonaut ceremony

A Russian rocket with a U.S. astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts onboard blasted off successfully early Friday for the International Space Station, with flame-haired Russian spy Anna Chapman making an unexpected appearance at the cosmodrome to wave them goodbye.

The Soyuz TMA-01M was launched at the scheduled time of 5.10am from the Baikonur cosmodrome in the vast steppe of southern Kazakhstan.

The crew's relatives and supporters cheered when the Soyuz engines roared and the spaceship lifted off in a blaze of orange flames, making the ground shudder.

Russian engineers hugged and kissed one another after the craft shed its first stage and it became clear the launch was a success.

I spy: Miss Chapman was spirited away shortly after the launch

International Space Station crew member U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly waves before entering the Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft

Putin Criticizes U.S. for Arrests of Espionage Suspects

Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin

MOSCOW — Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin criticized American law enforcement agencies on Tuesday for breaking up an what they described as a Russian espionage ring in the United States, as other Russian officials questioned whether the arrests were intended to damage relations between the countries.

Mr. Putin, at a meeting with former President Bill Clinton, brought up the subject.

“You have come to Moscow at the exact right time,” Mr. Putin told Mr. Clinton. “Your police have gotten carried away, putting people in jail.”

The List of Russian SuperSpies caught and charged by FBI -The femme fatale, the stay-at-home dad, the top newspaper columnist

Anna Chapman


Graves at Arlington National Cemetery, where America honours its war dead, near where Zottoli and Mills lived

Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near where Foley and Heathfield lived

Anna Chapman, 28:

Believed to be using her real name. A beautiful divorcee with a masters' in economics and an online real estate firm who attended high society New York parties, according to reports.

She lived in an apartment in a wealthy area of Manhattan.

She met regularly with Russian officials. FBI agents tried to use that to their advantage by setting up a sting with an agent posing as a Russian handler.

Russia SuperSpies were Americalized to commit missions used new spy methods of personal Wi fi Network to pass encrypted messages.

'SHE COULDN'T HAVE BEEN A SPY - LOOK WHAT SHE DID WITH THE HYDRANGEAS'

They wanted to infiltrate the inner core of American society, so naturally they chose the place that would arose the least suspicion - the suburbs.

The 11 men and women accused of spying for Russia lived apparently ordinary, mundane and even boring lives, neighbours have revealed.

Russian agent posing as suburban mother used British passport to spy on U.S., claims FBI

'Highly trained agent': Chapman has also posted some less racy images of herself on her Facebook page.The flame-haired femme fatale: Anna Chapman, dressed in in brilliant red, at a party in New York in March. She is accused of being a Russian spy

The 'practised deceiver': Above left, Chapman in a photo from her Facebook page wearing her signature red dress. Above right, the accused spy in a racy pose also taken from her Facebook page

Accused: L-R, Anna Chapman, Vicky Pelaez, the defendant known as 'Richard Murphy', the defendant known as 'Cynthia Murphy', and the defendant known as 'Juan Lazaro' are seen in Manhattan federal court in New York last night

* Foreign Office investigating British passport claims
* Obama refuses to answer questions on arrests
* Putin says he hopes case will not damage U.S.-Russia relationship
* Man believed to be 11th spy nabbed today in Cyprus - then released on bail
* Accused allegedly used invisible ink and steganography
* Eight of the suspects were married couples, some with children
* Plot 'has been in place since the 1990s'
One of the women accused of being a Russian spy in the U.S. travelled on a British passport, according to the FBI.

Tracey Lee Ann Foley, who was posing as a naturalised U.S. citizen born in Canada, is believed to have been given forged British documents by her Russian handlers.

She used them to travel to and from Moscow with greater ease, the FBI has claimed.

The Foreign Office said today it was investigating the claim.

If true, itwill undo some of the work that Prime Minister David Cameron did during the recent G8 and G20 summits to improve relations with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.