{"id":863226,"date":"2025-07-18T00:13:37","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T05:13:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/18\/six-bulgarians-jailed-for-spying-for-russia\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T00:13:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T05:13:37","slug":"six-bulgarians-jailed-for-spying-for-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/18\/six-bulgarians-jailed-for-spying-for-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Bulgarians jailed for spying for Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Six Bulgarians have been jailed after being convicted of spying for Russia on an industrial scale.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ringleader Orlin Roussev, 47, who led the spy ring from a rundown guesthouse on the east coast of England<\/a>, was sentenced to 10 years and eight months on Monday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He had admitted his role along with his second-in-command, Biser Dzhambazov, 44, who was jailed for 10 years and two months and Ivan Stoyanov, 33, who was handed five years and three weeks in prison.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Female \u201choneytrap\u201d agents Katrin Ivanova, 33, and Vanya Gaberova, 30, and competitive swimmer Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, were found guilty at the Old Bailey in March of activities which police have said put lives and national security at risk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Justice<\/a> Hilliard jailed Ivanova, of Harrow, north-west London<\/a>, for nine years and eight months, saying she had \u201cthrown in\u201d her lot with her partner Dzhambazov and become an \u201centhusiastic\u201d participant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gaberova, of Euston, north London, was jailed for six years, eight months and three weeks, having found spying for Russia to be \u201cexciting and glamorous\u201d, the judge said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Her ex-boyfriend Ivanchev, of Acton, west London, was sentenced to eight years in prison.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Earlier in mitigation for \u201cnaive\u201d beautician Gaberova, Anthony Metzer KC said her case was \u201ctragic\u201d as she would never have got involved but for her infatuation with Dzhambazov, who had falsely claimed to have cancer and be working for Interpol<\/a> while retaining his relationship with partner Ivanova.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He told the court: \u201cWe say she was controlled, coerced into this conspiracy by Mr Dzhambazov.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cShe fell in love with him and continued on her evidence to have feelings for him, not only on the date of her arrest but continued to have feelings for him even as she gave evidence, even though she was shocked, appalled and manipulated by him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In a televised sentencing, Mr Justice Hilliard commended officers for their \u201cextremely thorough and determined investigative work\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He noted the defendants were \u201cmotivated by money\u201d and lived \u201cvery comfortably\u201d on the substantial sums they were paid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Victims targeted by the spyring had been left \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d and been forced to enhance their security, the judge said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He said the risk to them was obvious and Roussev would have been aware of the \u201cextreme actions\u201d Russia had taken against those it regarded as an \u201cenemy\u201d of the state.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Using the UK as a base to plan spy operations against the safety and interests of the nation was a \u201cvery serious offence\u201d, Mr Justice Hilliard added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The court had heard that the spies were directed by alleged Russian<\/a> agent Jan Marsalek, 44, an Austrian businessman wanted by Interpol after the collapse of German payment processing firm Wirecard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Marsalek acted as a go-between for Russian intelligence and Roussev, who led the operation from a former guesthouse in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Orlin Roussev pleaded guilty to espionage charges and accepted having fake identity documents (Metropolitan Police\/PA)<\/p>\n

PA Media<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When police moved to arrest the spies in February 2023, they found Dzhambazov naked in bed with his lover Gaberova in Euston, rather than at home with his partner Ivanova.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Police pieced together six operations dating back to August 2020 from more than 100,000 Telegram messages on Roussev\u2019s phone in which he and Marsalek made light of their dangerous plans.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the chat, Roussev was referred to as Jackie Chan, Dzhambazov went by Mad Max and Jean-Claude Van Damme, and referred to his spies as The Minions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Competitive swimmer Tihomir Ivanchev was one of six Bulgarians convicted of spying for Russia (Metropolitan Police\/PA)<\/p>\n

PA Media<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The spy ring, which operated over at least three years, is believed to have been one of the \u201clargest and most complex\u201d enemy operations to be uncovered on UK soil.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The network engaged in a series of surveillance and intelligence operations targeting people and places of interest to the Russian state.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The defendants\u2019 spy activities ranged between the UK, Austria, Spain, Germany and Montenegro.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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They discussed deploying \u201clashes queen\u201d Gaberova as a honeytrap to snare a high-profile journalist, dropped 100 litres of pigs\u2019 blood on the Kazakhstan embassy in London by drone, and kidnapped a man in the UK.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Minions soft toys were among the items found during a search of an address in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, where police arrested spy chief Orlin Roussev in 2023 (Metropolitan Police\/PA)<\/p>\n

PA Media<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Spyware was recovered from the seaside hotel, described by Roussev in messages as his \u201cIndiana Jones garage\u201d \u2013\u00a0including audiovisual spy devices hidden inside a rock, men\u2019s ties, a Coca-Cola bottle and a Minions cuddly toy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Kit to make and test counterfeit identity documents was recovered from Roussev\u2019s address, with a stash of fake passports also found at the one-bedroom flat in Harrow that Ivanova and Dzhambazov shared.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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After his arrest, Roussev initially denied spying for Russia, telling police: \u201cNo James Bond activity on my end, I guarantee you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Justice Hilliard made a confiscation order for Roussev to pay \u00a3180,768 in ill-gotten gains.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Commander Dominic Murphy, head of Scotland Yard\u2019s Counter Terrorism Command, said: \u201cThe investigation team worked incredibly hard to piece together a complex and wide-ranging conspiracy that I would describe as espionage on an industrial scale.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Katrin Ivanova was found guilty at the Old Bailey of taking part in one of the \u2018largest and most complex\u2019 Russian spy operations to be uncovered on UK soil (Metropolitan Police\/PA)<\/p>\n

PA Media<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThis 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 \u2018outsourced\u2019 by certain states.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cRegardless 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Security minister Dan Jarvis said: \u201cThese substantial sentences should send a clear warning to anyone seeking to threaten our security, harm the UK, and compromise the safety of the public.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThis case is a stark reminder of the increasingly complex threat we face from hostile states who wish to undermine us, and why national security is a foundation of our Plan for Change. We will use the full range of tools and powers available to us to detect, disrupt, and deter malicious acts from hostile states and protect the public.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI am especially grateful for the work of our world-leading law enforcement partners and the Crown Prosecution Service for disrupting this threat and bringing these individuals to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Emily Pennink
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Six Bulgarians have been jailed after being convicted of spying for Russia on an industrial scale. Ringleader Orlin Roussev, 47, who led the spy ring from a rundown guesthouse on the east coast of England, was sentenced to 10 years and eight months on Monday. He had admitted his role along with his second-in-command, Biser<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":863227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[145355,29940],"tags":[145354,15274],"class_list":{"0":"post-863226","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bulgarians","8":"category-jailed","9":"tag-bulgarians","10":"tag-jailed"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}