Three UK-based Bulgarians found guilty of spying for Russia

The Guardian

07-03-2025

Three Bulgarian nationals accused of spying for Russia have been found guilty of espionage charges in a trial that heard how they were involved in a string of plots around Europe directed by a fugitive based in Moscow.
After more than 32 hours of deliberations, a jury at the Old Bailey reached unanimous verdicts on Katrin Ivanova, 33, a lab technician, Vanya Gaberova, 30, a beautician, and Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, a painter and decorator, all of whom were living in London before their arrest.
The three were convicted for being junior members of a spy ring that was ultimately directed by Jan Marsalek, an Austrian businessman who had fled to Russia in 2020 after a company he helped to run collapsed amid a €1.9bn fraud.
Marsalek directed the hostile surveillance of Christo Grozev – an investigative journalist who had help implicated Russian spies in the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny – in Bulgaria, Austria and Spain. All three defendants were involved in the operation.
The spy master also directed gang members, including Ivanova, to steal mobile phone numbers of Ukrainian troops believed to be training at a US barracks in Stuttgart, Germany, using a military grade snooping device not previously seen in criminal hands.
Marsalek communicated directly with the ring leader, Orlin Roussev, 47, from Great Yarmouth, who in turn directed the surveillance activities from a former guesthouse in the Norfolk seaside town. The building was crammed with hundreds of thousands pounds worth of electronic and surveillance equipment.
Roussev has already pleaded guilty to espionage charges, as has his friend and deputy, Bizer Dzhambazov, 43. But the three more junior members had denied the charge of espionage, leading to an Old Bailey trial that lasted nearly three months.
The court also heard that Dzhambazov was in a relationship with both Ivanova, his long-term partner, and Gaberova for a year and a half before their arrest. The third defendant, Ivanchev, was Gaberova's ex boyfriend.
All three were found guilty of being involved in conspiracy, contrary to section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977, to commit an offence under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911. It carries a maximum jail term of 14 years.
Of the three defendants, only Ivanchev was in court. The two women were present via video link from HMP Bronzefield.
Ivanova was also found guilty of possessing faked passports at her flat in Harrow, where she lived with Dzhambazov.
More details soon …