RUSSIA’S PRESIDENT DMITRY MEDVEDEV has presented top national honours to the Russian spies  deported from the US during the summer.

The 10 were presented with the special honours at the Kremlin today, although no footage or photos of the event have been released, according to AFP.

The group were expelled from the US in July in exchange for the release of four people convicted of spying in Russia.

The Moscow Times points out that the US report on their spying activities let to some embarrassing coverage for Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service. US authorities said they found no evidence that any useful information had actually been sent by the spies to Moscow.

It’s not the first time the spies have been publically recognised by Russia’s top politicians. Shortly after their release, prime minister Vladimir Putin met with the group in Ukraine and they joined him in singing Soviet-era patriotic tunes.

Putin was reported to have praised their professionalism while operating in the States.

He also said that they would find “decent work” when back in Russia, and he didn’t “doubt that they will have interesting, bright lives”.