Three British-based Bulgarians found guilty of spying for Russia

Three Bulgarian nationals accused of spying for Russia have been found guilty of espionage charges after it was revealed that they were involved in plots around Europe directed by a fugitive based in Moscow.

- Dan Sabbagh

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 directed by Jan Marsalek, an Austrian businessman who fled to Russia in 2020 after a company he helped to run collapsed amid a €1.9bn (£1.5bn) fraud.

Marsalek directed the hostile surveillance of Christo Grozev - an investigative journalist who had helped implicate Russian spies in the poisoning of the 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 of pounds worth of electronic and surveillance equipment.