Russian spy network exposed (Image: Met Police)
A Russian spy ring is facing years behind bars after “one of the biggest spying investigations” in decades.
Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, were on Friday found guilty of being part of a network gathering intelligence on “an almost industrial scale” for the Kremlin.
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Ringleader Orlin Roussev, 47, and Bizer Dzhambazov, 43, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to spy for Russia .
A sixth man, Ivan Stoyanov, 33, from Greenford, London, was also implicated in some of the spying.
Counter-terrorism police and MI5 were able to smash the network – controlled by former Wirecard chief operating officer Jan Marsalek from Moscow – after Roussev kept messages containing instructions, targets, surveillance logs and extraordinary amounts of detail about their plots.
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This “treasure trove” led to the convictions of Ivanova, 33, Gaberova, 30, and Ivanchev, 39.
Roussev, 47, from Great Yarmouth, and Dzhambazov, 43, from London, had already admitted being part of a conspiracy to spy.
Vanya Gaberova in spy glasses (Image: PA)
Biser Dzhambazov and Gaberova (Image: PA)
Marsalek acted as a go-between for Russian intelligence and Roussev, 47, in Great Yarmouth who received more than 200,000 euros (over ￡165,600) to fund the spying activities.
He deployed the 'Minions' with second-in-command Dzhambazov, who was in a love triangle with two of the team - his partner Ivanova and beautician Gaberova, jurors heard.
They targeted people and places of interest to the Russian state, even plotting to sweep up mobile phone data of Ukrainian soldiers thought to be trained at a US airbase in Germany before heading for the front line.
They also discussed using "lashes queen" Gaberova as a honeytrap to snare a high-profile journalist, dropping 100 litres of pigs blood on the Kazakhstan embassy in London by drone and kidnapping a man on UK soil.
When police moved to arrest the spies in February 2023, they found Dzhambazov naked in bed with his lover Gaberova rather than at home with Ivanova.
A treasure trove of spyware was uncovered in a raid on Roussev's operations centre in a former guesthouse in Great Yarmouth - described in messages as his "Indiana Jones garage".
Among the haul were homemade audiovisual spy devices hidden inside everyday objects including a rock, men's ties, a Coke 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.
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 nicknamed Jackie Chan, Dzhambazov went by Mad Max and Jean-Claude Van Damme, and referred to his spies as The Minions.
A jury deliberated for more than 32 hours to find Ivanova, of Harrow, Gaberova, of Euston, and Ivanchev, of Acton, guilty on Friday of plotting to spy for an enemy state.
Ivanova was also convicted of having a stash of false identity documents "with improper intention", which Roussev and Dzhambazov admitted along with the spy plot.
Frank Ferguson, Head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: “This was a high-level espionage operation with significant financial rewards for those involved in the spy ring.
“The group acted together, under the leadership of Orlin Roussev, to spy on prominent individuals and locations on behalf of Russia using sophisticated methods.
“The police raid on Roussev’s home revealed a spy factory, with a wide-ranging degree of gadgets and technology with one clear purpose – to obtain information.
“By targeting individuals in the UK fleeing persecution as well as journalists opposing the Russian regime, the group undermined the message that the UK is a safe country for those people.
“This prolonged activity also undermined the security and safety of the UK; and there can be no doubt that each of the defendants knew exactly who they were spying for.
“The Crown Prosecution Service worked very closely with the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, and other key partners, in building this case and today’s convictions send a very clear message that this type of offending will not be tolerated on UK soil.”
Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, warned it is a “clear example” of Moscow “contracting” out its intelligence gathering to proxies and criminals, adding: “We will see more of that”.
Commander Murphy also revealed more than one in five counter-terrorism investigations are now linked to hostile states trying to wreak havoc in Britain.
He said: “It is becoming an increasingly bigger part of all of CT’s work.
“Years ago, this would have been Russian agents on soil, directly working for a Russian intelligence agency.
“Instead what you have got is these activities being contracted out to individuals like this group.
“That says something about the hostile environment that we have created and the innovation behind now having to use criminals, or proxies.”
He added of the threat Russian intelligence services pose: “This is well organised, well-structured and poses a significant threat.
“We have to meet that demand.
“They are becoming much more aggressive and intrusive about how they carry out their activity in the UK.
“We need to make it harder for Russia to operate. In this case, it shows the difficult operating environment they now find themselves in. Post-Salisbury, we have seen a significant change in the way they operate, mostly trying to use criminal proxies and groups like this to carry out their role for them rather than doing it directly.
“That means we have to shift our focus. But we can’t lose focus on the fact this is being done by the Russian state in the UK.
“This is one of those clear examples of outsourcing and I think we will see more of that.
“Over 20% of our work is no longer counter-terrorism related.
“Some of you will have noted in Ken McCallum’s statements that they have seen a 50% increase in the work they are doing on national security threats.
“And our close partnership in this means that that demand is going to be mirrored in the work that we are going to do going forward.”
The spies were ordered to carry out surveillance of an American military base in Germany, which they believed was being used for training Ukrainian troops on Patriot missiles following Russia’s invasion.
They planned to use international mobile subscriber identity or “IMSI” catchers to identify soldiers’ mobile phones on the airbase so their movements could be tracked when they later served in Ukraine, the court was told.
They also plotted to kidnap journalists and planned fake attacks against Kazakhstan’s embassy in London so Putin’s secret services could come to the rescue.
Asked if there were other, similar, cells operating in Britain, Mr Murphy said: "The reality is, it won’t be the only activity Russia has conducted here in the UK and we have seen other disruptions into other types of Russian activity.
"Ken McCallum has been very open about the fact that there has been a very regular stream of sabotage and other activities linked to the Russian intelligence services.
"In terms of specific groups, all I can say is that within that 20% demand, there are a number of other investigations linked to Russia but they are not necessarily of this type.
"We look at lots of international threats."
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Orlin Roussev's "Indiana Jones" cave full of spying equipment (Image: PA)
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The court had heard how journalist Christo Grozev was targeted after he exposed Russian links to the Novichok poisoning and the downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane in July 2014.
He was followed from Vienna to a conference in Valencia in Spain, with Ivanova able to get close enough on the plane to record the PIN number on his phone with a camera on the strap of her bag after the spies acquired his flight manisfest.
Gaberova befriended the 54-year-old on Facebook and took covert pictures of Mr Grozev having breakfast at the Palace Hotel with Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins.
Roussev discussed with Marsalek deploying "true sexy bitch" Gaberova as a honeytrap against Mr Grozev, saying: "We can definitely record something for Pornhub too. That girl is red hot, she is a swinger too."
Marsalek discussed kidnapping another investigative journalist, Roman Dobrokhotov, by boat, opining: "A successful operation on British ground would be amazing after the f**** up Skripal stuff."
Ultimately, he concluded Operation Boat was too dangerous, telling Roussev: "If something goes wrong the UK authorities have a minimal response time between identifying your involvement and going after you."
The court heard of plans to help Russian intelligence services ingratiate themselves with Kazakhstan counterparts.
One idea was to offer intelligence after staging a fake protest outside the embassy, with Ivanova arranging a supply of "blood" in exchange for a bonus of ￡2,400.
At the time she, Dzhambazov and Stoyanov were working for a medical courier company.
Video of fake blood was shared and Roussev giving updates on the "vampire team", which Marsalek said was "bloody glorious literally".
In chilling discussions, Marsalek discussed kidnapping Russian lawyer Kirill Kachur in Montenegro, telling Roussev: "We don't mind if he dies by accident but better if he manages to find his way to Moscow."
Giving evidence, Ivanova claimed she was deceived by her long-term partner, Dzhambazov, and did not know she was providing intelligence to Russia.
She told jurors: "I purely believed what I was told and that was my mistake."
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Gaberova said she was "lied to, manipulated, used and exposed" by her boyfriend Dzhambazov, who she thought was an Interpol officer with brain cancer.
She expressed horror at the honeytrap plot, saying: "These people had horrible plans for me."
Former competitive swimmer Ivanchev declined to give evidence but claimed in his police interview Gaberova "manipulated" him.