Six people jailed for spying for Russia

Six Bulgarians living in the UK have been jailed for a total of more than 50 years for spying on behalf of Russia.

After a three-month trial at the Old Bailey, two women and one man were found guilty of conspiring to obtain information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to 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."

After a series of raids and arrests in February 2023, hundreds of items were seized by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command.

A 33-room former hotel that belonged to Roussev contained items including sophisticated spying equipment such as listening devices, concealed cameras and a fake ID card printer. Roussev was identified as leading the group - he has been sentenced to 10 years' and eight months imprisonment.

Bizer Maksimov Dzhambazov was identified as the second in command, he was sentenced to 10 years and two months' imprisonment.

Katrin Nikolayeva Ivanova, Vanya Nikolaveva Gaberova and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev were all found guilty on 7 March of conspiracy to spy, contrary to Section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977.

Ivan Iliev Stoyanov pleaded guilty before the trial to spying, contrary to section 1(1)(c) of the Official Secrets Act 1911.

It was found that Roussev was in 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 targeting two investigative journalists who were seen as reporting stories contrary to the interests of the Russian state.

The group also targeted a former senior Kazakh politician who lived in the UK and the group planned to stage protests at the Kazakhstan embassy in London. It is believed this was to help the Russian state gain favour with Kazakhstan.

Surveillance was also carried out at a US military site in Germany, where the group believed Ukrainian soldiers were being trained.

Commander Murphy continued: “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.”