Investigations Correspondent
Three Bulgarian nationals have been found guilty of spying for Russia in the UK.
Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, all from London, were part of a group of Bulgarians who spied between 2020 and 2023.
The cell undertook elaborate surveillance on people and places targeted by Russia, including investigative journalists and a US military base in Germany, with members crisscrossing Europe from their base in the UK.
Their plans were laid out in thousands of messages exchanged between the cell’s leaders and recovered by police.
The messages included plots to kidnap and kill some of the group’s targets as well as plans to ensnare them in so-called honeytraps.
The trio were convicted of conspiracy to spy, while Ivanova was also convicted of possessing multiple false identity documents..
Fellow Bulgarians Orlin Roussev, 47, from Great Yarmouth, and Biser Dzhambazov, 43, from London, had previously admitted conspiracy to spy, while a sixth defendant, Ivan Stoyanov, 34, also admitted spying before the trial and his conviction can now be reported for the first time.
Key targets were investigative journalists Christo Grozev and Roman Dobrokhotov, whose work includes exposing Russia’s role in the nerve agent attacks on Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in 2020 and Sergei Skripal in Salisbury in 2018.
During the trial, prosecutor Alison Morgan KC said the spy cell was “sophisticated in their methodology; carrying out surveillance activity of individuals and places; manufacturing and using false identities and deploying advanced technology to acquire information”.
Roussev’s espionage base was a seaside guesthouse in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, which police say contained a “treasure trove” of spying gadgets and equipment, including cameras hidden in ties, a camera hidden in a fake rock, and glasses containing recording equipment.
The police investigation received 221 mobile phones, 495 sim cards, 11 drones, and devices allowing data to be extracted from phones and eavesdropping on wi-fi activity.
The spy cell worked under the direction of Roussev, who in turn received instructions from Jan Marsalek.
The Austrian national, who is wanted in Germany for his alleged fraud linked to the financial services company Wirecard, was described by prosecutors as an “intermediary for the Russian intelligence services”.
Roussev and Marsalek met a decade ago, with Roussev subsequently recruited as a spy. He then recruited other Bulgarians to undertake espionage operations.
The spy cell had other jobs – Gaberova was a beautician, Ivanchev a painter and decorator, Roussev was at one stage the chief technology officer for a city of London financial firm.
Ivan Stoyanov worked as a medical courier, but also fought in mixed martial arts ffights using the nickname “The Destroyer”.
Dzhambazov and Ivanova lived together as a couple and worked in healthcare jobs, but also ran a Bulgarian community organisation that provided courses on “British values”.
But Dzhambazov was also in a relationship with Gaberova – they were found in bed together when police made arrests – and Ivanchev had separately been in a relationship with her in the past.
During their trial, Ivanova and Gaberova admitted undertaking surveillance operations but denied knowing it was for the benefit of Russia.
Ivanchev did not give evidence during the trial but outlined a similar position during police interviews after being arrested. He was arrested a year after the other five defendants and told police he had several conversations with MI5.
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