A group of six Bulgarians living in the UK have been jailed for a combined total of more than 50 years for being part of a spying operation across Europe on behalf of Russia.
Following a three-month trial at the Old Bailey, two women and a man were found guilty of conspiring to obtain information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to Russia.
A group of six Bulgarians living in the UK have been jailed for a combined total of 50 years, 3 months and 2 weeks for being part of a spying operation across Europe on behalf of Russia.
Three other men pleaded guilty to Official Secrets Act charges before the trial started.
Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “The strength of the investigation into the group’s surveillance operations left the ringleaders – Orlin Roussev and Bizer Dzhambazov – with no option but to plead guilty to the charges they faced.
“As shown in footage from his initial interviews, Roussev firmly denied carrying out any espionage activity for Russia. However, before he was due to stand trial, he admitted that he had been part of the conspiracy to spy.
“This was in large part due to the detailed analysis of more than 200,000 digital messages and hundreds of items seized from Roussev’s home address.
“The investigation team worked incredibly hard to piece together a complex and wide-ranging conspiracy that I would describe as espionage on an industrial scale.
“The significant jail sentences handed to the group reflect the serious threat they posed to the safety and interests of the UK, as well as targets across Europe.
“This case is a clear example of the increasing amount of state threat casework we are dealing with in the UK. It also highlights a relatively new phenomenon whereby espionage is being ‘outsourced’ by certain states.
“Regardless of the form the threat takes, this investigation shows that we will take action to identify and disrupt any such activity that puts UK national security and the safety of the public at risk.”
The court heard that detectives from the Met’s Counter terrorism Command seized hundreds of items after a co-ordinated series of raids and arrests were carried out on 8 February 2023.
In particular, a 33-room former hotel belonging to Roussev was found to contain items including sophisticated spying equipment such as listening devices, concealed cameras and a fake ID card printer.
Through their investigation, detectives identified that Roussev, who was leading the group, was in direct contact with Jan Marsalek – an Austrian national who, in turn, was identified as working with the Russian intelligence services.
The investigation team identified six core spying ‘plots’ the group were involved in. This included activity that targeted two investigative journalists who were seen as reporting stories contrary to the interests of the Russian state.
A former senior Kazakh politician who lived in the UK was also targeted, and the group planned to stage protests at the Kazakhstan embassy in London. Both operations were part of an elaborate plan to help the Russia state gain favour with Kazakhstan.
The group also carried out surveillance at a US military site in Germany, where they believed Ukrainian soldiers were being trained.
Another man who was designated as a ‘foreign agent’ by Russia was also targeted by the group during surveillance operations in Montenegro.
Sifting through thousands of messages, and then matching these up with physical travel, financial statements and surveillance reports and footage, meant detectives were able to build up a compelling picture of the group’s activity, as well as identify those involved and their roles within the group.
The six members of the group, who were all sentenced at the Old Bailey on Monday, 12 May, were:
- Orlin Roussev, 46 (06.02.1978) of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, sentenced to 10 years’ and eight months imprisonment.
- Bizer Maksimov Dzhambazov, 43 (21.04.1981), of Harrow, north London, sentenced to 10 years and two months’ imprisonment.
- Katrin Nikolayeva Ivanova, 33 (01.07.1991) of Harrow, north London, sentenced to nine years and eight months’ imprisonment.
- Ivan Iliev Stoyanov, 33 (22.12.1991) of Greenford, west London, sentenced to five years and three weeks’ imprisonment.
- Vanya Nikolaveva Gaberova, 30 (10.08.1994) of Euston, north London, sentenced to six years, eight months and three weeks’ imprisonment.
- Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39 (31.07.85) of Acton, west London, sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment.
Officers found that Roussev was directing the group’s activity, and was receiving tasks through his contact with Marsalak. Dzhambazov was effectively the second in command.
The other four were involved in the execution of various espionage and surveillance activities across the UK and Europe in relation to the six plots identified by detectives.
Ivanova, Gaberova and Ivanchev were all found guilty on 7 March of conspiracy to spy, contrary to Section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977.
Roussev and Dzhambazov pleaded guilty before the trial started to the same offence.
Stoyanov pleaded guilty before the trial to spying, contrary to section 1(1)(c) of the Official Secrets Act 1911.