Yesterday, we got some of the photos from Angelina Jolie’s big Russian trip, where she did a photo call and premiered Salt in Moscow. The photos are great – one of the rare times I’ve ever seen Angelina wear red on a red carpet. Maybe she just thought red would be a more Russian color? Probably. The dress is Versace, and I wish she would have worn it for the LA premiere, because it’s one of the best dresses she’s worn in years.

Anyway, last week there was a lot of gossip that Angelina had personally invited Russian spy Anna Chapman (the hottie spy who was just thrown out of America) to the Moscow premiere. Chapman stood Angelina up, however. But it seems like Angelina still got a really great reception from the Russian Brangeloonies. I would have paid to have seen this, honestly:

Angelina Jolie, dressed in an appropriately red evening gown, took Moscow by storm Sunday night at the Russian premiere of her summer spy flick, “Salt.”

“Angelina, Angelina” chants and clapping filled the air as Jolie, who plays a CIA officer accused of being a Russian sleeper-spook, signed autographs, posed for the cameras and kissed one little girl on the cheek at the Oktyabrskiy theater.

“It’s been my dream to see her since I was 10 years old. My room is covered with her pictures,” gushed Dasha Vorontzova, 21, who bares a striking resemblance to Jolie and traveled nearly 1,400 miles from Siberia to Moscow for the premiere. “When I saw this woman I started shaking! She came to Russia for the first time in this [95 degree] heat. She said a Russian word and she signed autographs for so long.”

Jolie had the Russians cheering at “Spasibo,” charming the audience with her Russian during the film’s introduction. Her “Dobriy Vecher!” – Russian for Good Evening – greeting was met with screams and whistles.

“This is my first premier in Moscow and I’m so excited to be here,” she said switching into English. “I hope you enjoy the film. I tried to speak a bit of Russian. I hope I did okay.”

Once the projectors started rolling, the audience cheered and clapped for any references to Russia and with particular zest for a scene where a fur hat clad Jolie rides the Staten Island Ferry.

One real Russia spy was notably absent from the festivities. Despite the hyped-up speculations of an apperance, flame-haired Anna Chapman, who was at the heart of this summer’s real-life US-Russian espionage drama, was a no-show at the premier.

“If [Chapman] came on stage it would be funny.” said Vorontzova’s sister Katya, 27, “Angelina looks more like a spy than Anna. They say that she’s a stunner but her facial features are very plain. Maybe this whole case was a promo for the movie. It’s all so strange – I don’t think the people will know the whole truth,”

“In our country they still only tell us half the truth,” chimed in Dasha, adding, “This is Angelina’s day.”

Jolie did not bring up the spy scandal on stage, and told reporters “you don’t want to focus on the negative behind this issue of the spy swap because I think that what is happening between our countries is wonderful these days, so many positive movements forward.”

Meanwhile, others in the audience favored their red-blood over Jolie for the part of a Russian spy.

“Of course Anna is better. She is younger. She’s Russian – her facial features are more dear to us,” said Dima Borishenko, 23, who lives in Moscow and works in PR. “She has a lot of offers, she should become an actress. I’d see her movie and it doesn’t have to be spy themed. I heard she got an offer from a porn studio – why not! She’s got all the goods for it.”

“I’m keeping an eye out for her! I’d be more interested to see Anna than Angelina Jolie,” he said.

Yet Anna Osokina, 16, who braved the heat to catch a glimpse of Jolie said Chapman should stick to what she knows best. “She should keep spying or work as a detective,” the Moscow 10th grader said.

[From The NY Daily News]

Well, it looks like Angelina had her Russian fans all in a tizzy, and it’s very interesting that people were talking about the Chapman case – a few years ago, I watched a PBS documentary on what the spy community and the larger disinformation campaigns were like under Vladimir Putin, and it’s really scary what he and his government got away with in this modern age, with information being at the touch of everyone’s fingertips. I don’t want to get too morose, but I doubt we – or the Russian people – will ever know what really happened with these spies.

By the way, Angelina has already left Moscow – she and the kids are now in Japan. There are some adorable photos of her and the older kids here.

Header: Angelina in Moscow on July 25, 2010. Credit: WENN.