Six Bulgarians are detained after they are spied on in Great Britain for Russia | crime

Six Bulgarians who were convicted of espionage to Russia in Great Britain have received prison terms of up to 10 years and eight months in the old Bailey.

The 47 -year -old Orlin Roussev, who was the leader of the ring and had guilty, was sentenced to 10 years and eight months for his role in the implementation of six “sophisticated” operations that risked the national security and security of the public.

His 44-year-old Biser Dzhambazov, Biser Dzhambazov, was arrested in Old Bailey for 10 years and two months after he was also guilty.

Katrin Ivanova, 33, one of two women who were used as a “honey tree” against the targets of the group was arrested for 9 years and eight months. Mr. Justice Hilliard said Dzhambazov, but he told her that she had entered her lot “by free choice for good or bad”.

The other woman, The 30 -year -old Vanya Gaberova received a prison sentence of six years, eight months and three weeks. While the judge had a claustrophobia diagnosis, he told her that she knew what she was doing for Russia and found it “exciting and glamorous”.

Tihomir Ivchechev, 39, one of two lieutenants, received a prison sentence of eight years from the judge who reported reports on good behavior, and the fact that his commitment to the ring stopped before her arrest in 2023. The other, Ivan Stoyanov, 33, was observed for five years and three weeks.

Mr. Justice Hilliard announced to every defendant that he had to serve half of her prison before he was entitled to probation and would then be liable for the automatic deportation to Bulgaria.

Previously, he had six identified spy diagrams carried out by the accused, some of whom said were more guilty.

Directed by Roussev's second-in-command, Dzhambazov, he said that the accused were “motivated by money”, with “considerable” sums of up to € 1 million (€ 842,000 GBP) being discussed.

This, he said demonstrated the “value” of her hidden activities in Russia. “Part of the money would have covered their expenses, but not all. This made it possible for the accused to live very comfortably. It must have been thought that the defendants were of value.

Between 2020 and 2023, the spy ring was involved in surveillance and intelligence operations, which aimed at journalists and Russian dissidents.

In a guest house in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, it was led from abroad by Jan Marsalek, an Austrian businessman who had fled to Russia in 2020 after the payment company he had helped with the management of Wircard in the middle of a fraud of 1.9 billion.

Marsalek, which is assumed that he is in Moscow, but is being sought in Germany because of the Wircard scandal, worked for the Russian FSB State Security Service and the GRU military service agency.

He directed the surveillance in Bulgaria, Austria and Spain by Christo Grozev, an investigative journalist who had contributed to involving Russian spies in the poisoning of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Marsalek also instructed gang members, including Ivanova, to steal the mobile numbers of the Ukrainian troops, which was assumed to be subjected to a military spy device in a US barracks in Stuttgart, Germany.

In a conviction assigned on television, Mr. Justice Hilliard praised the officials for their “extremely thorough and determined investigation”.

Victims who were targeted by Spyring were “deeply concerned” and had to improve their security, said the judge. He said the risk for them was obvious and Roussev had been aware of the “extreme actions” that Russia had taken against those who considered it as the “enemy” of the state.

Commandant Dominic Murphy, head of the Counter Terrorism Met Command, After the conviction that the strength of the examination of the group's surveillance operations had left the ring loaders – Roussev and Dzhambazov – without an option than to be guilty.

“This case is a clear example of the increasing amount of government threats that we have to do in Great Britain. It also shows a relatively new phenomenon in which the espionage of certain states is” outsourced “.

Frank Ferguson, head of the Department of Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Counter Terrorism, said that, By introducing themselves to individuals in Great Britain, before persecution and journalists who oppose the Russian regime, The group had undermined the message that Britain was a safe country for these people.

“This longer activity has also undermined the security and security of Great Britain. There can be no doubt that everyone of the accused knew exactly who they were spying on for,” he added.