On 24 September 1979, Belousova and Protopopov defected to Switzerland while on tour. They applied for political asylum. They settled in Grindelwald. They became Swiss citizens in 1995. Switzerland is still their winter home. Their summer home and training center is in Lake Placid, New York. On 25 February 2003, they went back to Russia for the first time. They were invited by Vyacheslav Fetisov, the Russian Minister of Sport.