Anna Chapman, Former Spy, Joins Putin's Party

Former spy Anna Chapman signed up with the youth wing of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, and was promptly appointed to its public council, the BBC reports.

Chapman's move is a public reaffirmation of her allegiance to both Russia in general and Putin specifically, the Associated Press reports.

Chapman was exposed in the United States along with nine other so-called sleeper agents in an FBI sting operation and deported back to Russia this summer.

Rather than recede into anonymity like the other agents, Chapman has reveled in the fame, the AP reports. Since Prime Minister Putin held a reception to welcome her and the other agents back, Chapman has appeared at a Russian rocket launch and stripped to her underwear for a men's magazine, among other things.

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Chapman is also rumored to soon be making an appearance in Playboy magazine in January, albeit in photos taken by an ex-boyfriend, the New York Daily News reports.

One of the reasons the Young Guard youth wing was formed was to counter uprisings that would displace Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev.

In an address to delegates broadcast on Russian TV, she called on people to adopt a more positive outlook on life, the BBC reports.

"We must transform the future, starting with ourselves," she said. "If every one of us was joyful, we could do something useful and new."