Six members of a complex Russian spy ring operating on an “industrial scale” from a run-down British seaside guesthouse were jailed on Monday.
Bulgarian nationals Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, formed part of a group that carried out surveillance on Russian dissidents and put “many lives at risk”, with plans to kidnap and kill certain targets.
In March they were found guilty of espionage for passing secrets to their Russian spymaster Jan Marsalek, former chief operating officer of collapsed payment processor Wirecard, for nearly three years in one of the most complex investigations carried out by the Met Police.
They are being sentenced alongside the group’s leader Orlin Roussev, 47, Biser Dzhambazov, 44, and Ivan Stoyanov, 33, who admitted their roles.
The Old Bailey heard the cell gathered information on targets including a Bellingcat investigative journalist, a Kazakhstani former politician and a Russian lawyer, while the group also spied on a US army base in Germany where Ukrainian troops were said to be trained.
It is believed to be one of the “largest and most complex” enemy operations to be uncovered on UK soil.
Jailing them on Monday, Mr Justice Hilliard said Roussev was involved in six “sophisticated” operations and obtaining false identity documents, putting his offending at the top end of the scale. He was sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison.
Dzhambazov was jailed for 10 years and two months. His “trusted partner” Ivanova had “thrown in” her lot with him “for better or worse” and was an “enthusiastic participant for a long time”, the judge said. She was jailed for nine years and eight months.
Gaberova was jailed for six years, eight months and three weeks. Mr Justice Hilliard told her that she knew what she was doing was for Russia and had found it “exciting and glamorous”.
Ivanchev was jailed for eight years and Stoyanov was jailed for five years and three weeks.
In a televised sentencing, Mr Justice Hilliard commended investigators for their “extremely thorough and determined investigative work” to uncover the ring, noting the defendants were “motivated by money” and lived “very comfortably” on the substantial sums they were paid.
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 Mr Marsalek made light of their dangerous plans.
In the chat, Roussev was referred to as Jackie Chan, second-in-command Dzhambazov went by Mad Max and Jean-Claude Van Damme, and referred to his spies as The Minions – characters from the animated film Despicable Me.
Roussev deployed the Minions with Dzhambazov, who was in a love triangle with two of the team – his partner Ivanova and beautician Gaberova, jurors heard.
Spyware was recovered from the former guesthouse in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, described by Roussev in messages as his “Indiana Jones garage” – including audiovisual spy devices hidden inside a rock, men’s ties, a Coke bottle and a Minions cuddly toy.
The court heard Mr Marsalek, who acted as a go-between for Russian intelligence and Roussev, even boasted that he could supply “nukes”.
Messages show the 44-year-old Austrian businessman told Roussev in April 2021 “together we can pretty much organise anything they need except nukes” before adding “even the nukes if they pay”.
Other messages collated by the prosecution show how Mr Marsalek believed a “successful operation on British ground would be amazing” following the Skripal poisonings in Salisbury.
Another from November 2022 showed him criticising former Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich for “leaving Russia and selling all his assets here”.
Mr Marsalek, who is wanted by Interpol after the collapse of German payment processing firm Wirecard, also told Roussev in May 2021: “In my new role as an international fugitive I must outperform James Bond.”
In a victim impact statement Bellingcat investigative journalist Christo Grozev described the surveillance on him as “terrifying, disorientating and deeply destabilising”.
Mr 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 manifest.
“Their surveillance and targeting have had a profound and enduring impact on both my personal and professional life, as well as the lives of my family members,” he said in a statement read by prosecutor Alison Morgan KC.
“Learning only in retrospect that foreign agents have been monitoring my movements, communications and home, surveying my loved ones over an extended period – has been terrifying, disorientating and deeply destabilising.
“The consequences have not faded with time – they have fundamentally changed how I live my daily life and how I relate to the world around me.”
Another target, Kazakhstan dissident Bergey Ryskaliyev, said he felt “concerned that the threat has not been fully eliminated” despite the defendants being arrested.
Mr Ryskaliyev was under surveillance from the spy ring at two west London addresses, the court heard.
Mr Ryskaliyev said: “Despite the fear, we do not allow it to paralyse us. As a result of the threat, I’ve had to put enhanced security measures in place: these include hiring private security and changing the logistics of my movements.”
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.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis said: “These substantial sentences should send a clear warning to anyone seeking to threaten our security, harm the UK, and compromise the safety of the public.
“This 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.”
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said the case highlights the recent phenomenon of espionage being “outsourced” by certain states.
“The investigation team worked incredibly hard to piece together a complex and wide-ranging conspiracy that I would describe as espionage on an industrial scale,” he added.
“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.”
