Used 221 Mobile Phones, Drones, and Eavesdropping Devices
Plotted Kidnapping and Assassination of 'Anti-Russia' Journalists
Three Bulgarian men and women charged with espionage activities for the Russian intelligence agency in the UK were found guilty by the court.
On the 7th (local time), according to BBC and others, the jury at the Central Criminal Court in London found Bulgarian nationals Katrin Ivanova (33, female), Vanya Gaberova (30, female), and Tihomir Ivanchev (39) guilty of being recruited by Russia and conducting espionage activities.
They are accused of spying activities from 2020 to 2023 across Europe, including monitoring and plotting the kidnapping of journalists and figures critical of Russia. Investigations revealed that the intelligence organization they belonged to monitored Bellingcat investigative journalist Christo Grozev, who has reported critically on Russia, and plotted his kidnapping and assassination. Additionally, they were found to have monitored Roman Dobrokhotov, a journalist from Insider who mainly covers Russia, and Sergey Ryskaliyev, a Kazakh politician critical of Russia-Kazakhstan relations. They conducted espionage targeting a US military base in Germany where Ukrainian soldiers were trained and were also investigated for planning fake protests at the Kazakhstan embassy in the UK.
Based on messages submitted to the court, the person who gave orders to these Bulgarians is Jan Marszalek, an Austrian national presumed to be in Russia. Marszalek appears to have issued commands on behalf of Russian intelligence agencies. He is a former Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the German electronic payment company Wirecard, which went bankrupt after an accounting scandal, and is known to have been recruited by Russian intelligence in 2014. Marszalek relayed instructions from Russian superiors to Orlin Rusev (46), the leader within the UK. Rusev admitted to his espionage charges along with two other members before the trial began.
The three Bulgarians found guilty claimed they were unaware of their involvement in espionage activities. They face up to 14 years in prison at the sentencing hearing scheduled for May.
Dominic Murphy, head of the Counter Terrorism Command at the London Metropolitan Police, told reporters, "This organization is the largest we have seen in over 20 years of counter-terrorism investigations," describing it as "espionage activities conducted on an almost industrial scale on behalf of Russia." He also said the equipment they used was "something you would only see in spy novels." Investigations found they used 221 mobile phones, 495 SIM cards, 11 drones, devices for extracting mobile phone data, and wireless activity eavesdropping equipment.
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