Three Bulgarians have appeared at the Old Bailey accused of being part of a sophisticated Russian spy ring that allegedly plotted kidnappings and assassinations from their UK base.
Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, deny conspiring to spy for Russia between August 2020 and February 2023.
Crown prosecutor Alison Morgan KC told the court the defendants were “sophisticated in their methodology” and earned “significant sums” for their actions.
The trio allegedly carried out surveillance operations across Europe, including London, Vienna, Valencia, Montenegro and Stuttgart.
From left to right: Katrin Ivanova, Vanya Gaberova, Orlin Roussev, Ivan Stoyanov and Bizer Dzhambazov
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Two other members of the ring, Orlin Roussev and Biser Dzhambazo, have already pleaded guilty to espionage charges.
When arrested, the spy ring was found to possess an extensive arsenal of surveillance equipment, the court heard.
This included 221 mobile phones, nearly 500 SIM cards and dozens of recording devices.
The group also had 11 drones, three IMSI grabbers capable of intercepting nearby data, and 91 bank cards.
Among the items seized were 75 passports and numerous false identity documents.
Morgan said they deployed “advanced technologies to acquire information” as part of their operations.
The court heard hundreds of thousands of pounds were channelled into the ring via their alleged Russian spymaster, known as “Rupert Ticz”.
One of the ring’s primary targets was Christo Grozev, a lead investigator on Russian affairs for Bellingcat, the court heard.
The journalist had previously uncovered Russian links to the 2018 Salisbury attack and the poisoning of Alexei Navalny.
Members of the group tracked Grozev across Vienna, Valencia and Montenegro, passing information to their alleged handler.
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The suspects appeared at the Old Bailey
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The court was told the ring discussed various “tactical options” against him, including robbing his laptop, burning his property, or kidnapping him to Moscow.
They even contemplated killing him or infiltrating Bellingcat, Morgan said.
The threat level was so severe that Grozev now lives apart from his family.
The spy ring allegedly planned to use female members as “honey traps” to gather intelligence from targets, the Old Bailey heard.
Morgan told jurors they were “in positions of proximity to targets, following them on aircraft, even envisaging the possibility of direct contact, for example by female defendants being used as a ‘honey trap’, as sexual bait to capture more information”.
The operations were described as “high risk and highly sophisticated” with significant financial rewards.
The prosecution dismissed potential defence claims that the female defendants were acting out of romantic devotion.
“This is not the sort of activity that you carry out simply because of romantic relationships,” Morgan said.
The spy ring conducted six major operations across Europe, including surveillance of the US Patch Barracks in Stuttgart, the court heard.
Prosecutors said the base was targeted in late 2022 because it was believed to be training Ukrainian soldiers.
The group also allegedly monitored UK-based Russian dissident Roman Dobrokhotov, founder of The Insider media organisation.
Other operations included targeting Kazakh former politician Bergey Ryskaliyev and Russian lawyer Kirill Kachur.
The ring allegedly staged a fake demonstration outside the Kazakh Embassy in September 2022 to gain favour with Kazakhstan’s intelligence services “on behalf of Russia”.
“They were targeting people and places where the information would be of particular use to Russia,” Morgan told jurors.
At the time of the alleged offences, the defendants were living across London – Ivanchev in Acton, Ivanova in Harrow, and Gaberova in Euston.
The court heard of complex relationships between the defendants, with Biser Dzhambazov having been in relationships with both Ivanova and Gaberova.
Gaberova had also previously been involved with Ivanchev.
Ivanova faces an additional charge of possessing false identity documents, which she denies.
The trial is expected to run until February.
