Six Bulgarians have been jailed after being convicted of spying for Russia on an industrial scale using “honeytrap” agents.
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 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.
Female “honeytrap” 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.
Mr Justice Hilliard jailed Ivanova, of Harrow, north-west London, for nine years and eight months, saying she had “thrown in” her lot with her partner Dzhambazov and become an “enthusiastic” participant.
Gaberova, of Euston, north London, was jailed for six years, eight months and three weeks, having found spying for Russia to be “exciting and glamorous”, the judge said. Her ex-boyfriend Ivanchev, of Acton, west London, was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Earlier in mitigation for “naive” beautician Gaberova, Anthony Metzer KC said her case was “tragic” 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 while retaining his relationship with partner Ivanova.
He told the court: “We say she was controlled, coerced into this conspiracy by Mr Dzhambazov. She 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.”
In a televised sentencing, Mr Justice Hilliard commended officers for their “extremely thorough and determined investigative work”. He noted the defendants were “motivated by money” and lived “very comfortably” on the substantial sums they were paid.
Victims targeted by the spyring had been left “deeply concerned” and been forced to enhance their security, the judge said. He said the risk to them was obvious and Roussev would have been aware of the “extreme actions” Russia had taken against those it regarded as an “enemy” of the state.
Using the UK as a base to plan spy operations against the safety and interests of the nation was a “very serious offence”, Mr Justice Hilliard added. The court had heard that the spies were directed by alleged Russian agent Jan Marsalek, 44, an Austrian businessman wanted by Interpol after the collapse of German payment processing firm Wirecard.
Marsalek acted as a go-between for Russian intelligence and Roussev, who led the operation from a former guesthouse in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. 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.
Police pieced together six operations dating back to August 2020 from more than 100,000 Telegram messages on Roussev’s phone in which he and Marsalek made light of their dangerous plans. 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.
The spy ring, which operated over at least three years, is believed to have been one of the “largest and most complex” enemy operations to be uncovered on UK soil. The network engaged in a series of surveillance and intelligence operations targeting people and places of interest to the Russian state.
The defendants’ spy activities ranged between the UK, Austria, Spain, Germany and Montenegro. They discussed deploying “lashes queen” Gaberova as a honeytrap to snare a high-profile journalist, dropped 100 litres of pigs’ blood on the Kazakhstan embassy in London by drone, and kidnapped a man in the UK.
Spyware was recovered from the seaside hotel, described by Roussev in messages as his “Indiana Jones garage” – including audiovisual spy devices hidden inside a rock, men’s ties, a Coca-Cola bottle and a Minions cuddly toy. Kit to make and test counterfeit identity documents was recovered from Roussev’s address, with a stash of fake passports also found at the one-bedroom flat in Harrow that Ivanova and Dzhambazov shared.
After his arrest, Roussev initially denied spying for Russia, telling police: “No James Bond activity on my end, I guarantee you.” Mr Justice Hilliard made a confiscation order for Roussev to pay £180,768 in ill-gotten gains.
