Bulgarian nationals in UK accused of spying and plotting to kidnap and kill Kremlin opponents

Three UK-based Bulgarian nationals have been accused of engaging in “honey pot” plots to kidnap and kill dissidents and journalists and passing secrets to Russia for nearly three years, a court in London has heard.

Prosecutors at the Central Criminal Court on Thursday said Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, were part of a spy ring between 2020 and 2023.

Among other allegations, the prosecution contends that the defendants had plans to kidnap or kill opponents of the Kremlin, including Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian journalist formerly with Bellingcat who contributed to proving Moscow’s involvement in the 2018 Novichok poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal.

The three have denied the charges against them.

The alleged spy ring also included two more defendants, Orlin Roussev and Biser Dzhambazov, who previously pleaded guilty to espionage charges, the court was told.

While it is alleged much of their activity took place across Europe, including in cities such as Vienna and Valencia, or spying on a US airbase in Germany where Ukrainian troops were said to be in training, the prosecution claims that their efforts were coordinated in the UK.

“Between 2020 and 2023, these three defendants, together with a number of other people, spied for the benefit of Russia,” said prosecution lawyer Alison Morgan. “Their activity caused obvious and inevitable prejudice to the safety and interests of the United Kingdom.”

Morgan said the alleged surveillance was “sophisticated” and that the defendants were paid “significant amounts of money.” Hundreds of devices are alleged to have been used, including hidden bugs and jammers.

It is alleged that the defendants plotted with a Russian agent said to be an Austrian national, Jan Marsalek, to obtain information useful to the Kremlin. Marsalek, aka Rupert Ticz, is said to have paid Roussev and Dzhambazov for the espionage, according to information retrieved from thousands of WhatsApp messages between them found among a total of 221 mobile telephones and 495 telephone SIM cards seized by police.

According to both German and Austrian media, Marsalek is believed to have had connections to Russian intelligence since at least 2014 and is widely believed to be in Russia.

The trial is expected to last until February.