The London criminal court Old Bailey sentenced six Bulgarian citizens accused of spying for Russia. The leader of the group, 47-year-old Orlin Rusev, was sentenced to 10 years and eight months, writes Reuters. Before the trial, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to spy for Russia, after police discovered thousands of messages between him and the fugitive Jan Marsalek.
The activities of the spy group posed a serious threat to the national security of the United Kingdom, and police stated that the group was engaged in "espionage on an almost industrial scale." According to the prosecution, the group's actions were led by Orlin Rusev, who received instructions from 43-year-old Austrian citizen, former operational director of the German payment system Wirecard Jan Marsalek, who is wanted in Germany on fraud charges.
Rusev's deputy, 44-year-old Biser Djambazov, was sentenced to 10 years and two months, 33-year-old Katrin Ivanova received a sentence of nine years and eight months, 30-year-old Vanya Gaberova — eight years, 39-year-old Tihomir Ivanchev received eight years, 33-year-old Ivan Stoyanov — six years and four months.
The Bulgarian citizens were accused of carrying out six operations on behalf of Russian intelligence services in the UK and other European countries from August 2020 to February 2023. Prosecutors stated that the defendants were primarily motivated by financial gain, notes Reuters.
The prosecution believes that in 2021, Orlin Rusev discussed options for kidnapping and killing investigative journalist Christo Grozev, setting fire to his property, or stealing his mobile phone and laptop to pass them on to the Russian side. In November 2022, the group also planned an operation against the editor-in-chief of the Russian publication The Insider** Roman Dobrokhotov.
Other targets of the group included lawyer and former employee of the Moscow Investigative Committee Kirill Kachur, who left the country in 2021, and Kazakh politician Bergey Ryskaliyev, who emigrated to the UK for political reasons after 2012.
The defendants were also accused of surveilling a US military base near Stuttgart, Germany, at the end of 2022, where Ukrainian servicemen were trained in the use of surface-to-air missiles.
* Recognized as "foreign agents" in Russia.
** Recognized as a "foreign agent" and "undesirable" organization in Russia.