Anna Chapman, the accused Russian spy who with her good looks and flaming red hair became the public face of an alleged United States-based spy ring, may have a future in politics, DPA reported.
People in her hometown of Volgograd - formerly Stalingrad - are toying with the idea of nominating the 28-year-old as a candidate for next year's parliamentary elections, the daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported on Tuesday.
Chapman was brought back to Russia last week as part of a widely publicized spy swap between the two former Cold War superpowers.
She has become "even more popular than the 84-metre-high 'Mother Russia' memorial" in the city, which commemorates the famous Battle of Stalingrad in 1942-1943, the paper wrote.
Administrators in the south-western Russian city had previously called for the composition of a hymn honouring Chapman during her two-week detention in the US.
Chapman and the nine other Russian spies who were swapped against four Western agents are staying at a compound belonging to the SWR foreign intelligence service, the Moskovsky Komsomolez newspaper reported. They are reportedly being questioned about their mission.
After that, the agents will be able to continue working for the service or find a new job, the paper said.