Moscow:
Former spy Anna Chapman has publicly reaffirmed her allegiance to Russia and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin by joining the youth wing of his United Russia party.
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.
She told the crowd at a party congress that society would be less "negative" if everyone had a smile on their face.
"If every one of us was happy every new day, when you can make something new and useful; if every one of us respected the work of others and loved his close ones, and most of all, if we dreamed of the most audacious," she said.
"My friends, let's change the country starting with ourselves. Be happy."
Rather than recede into anonymity like the other agents, Chapman has revelled in the fame.
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.
(Read: Anna Chapman to feature nude in Playboy)One of the reasons the Young Guard youth wing was formed was to counter uprisings that would displace Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev.